The Wolf and the Weasel
by MockingjayWolf
Summary: The story of Katrina Lupine, a Natural Animagus, and her nine years as part of the new Golden Trio. Friendship, adventure, romance, what more could a witch want? This is the tale of the Wolf and the Weasel; R&R please! *Plotline of both books and movies!*
1. Chapter 1: The Sorting of the Wolf

**Two Years Before The Philosopher's Stone**

"GRYFFINDOR!"

_ Damn. I _asked _for Ravenclaw, didn't I?_

Katrina Lupine tried to suppress her disappointment and to concentrate on not drawing too much attention as she made my way over to the cheering table filled to the brim with kids wearing gold and scarlet. She sat down at an empty spot, with an empty on either side of her. Maybe the others already knew what she was.

_Merlin's beard, is Animagi a disease now? I do wish someone had told me before I had been born._ Katrina had to catch myself before she began grinding her teeth in frustration.

Hours seemed to pass, although in reality it was only minutes, before a loud call of, "WEASLEY, FRED!" brought her back to the present.

She watched dully as the Sorting Hat was placed on a red-headed boy. It was too big for him, and slipped down over his eyes, causing a ripple of laughter to sweep the hall. Katrina smiled herself - if only just a little. The boy himself grinned and swung his legs as the Hat practically screamed, "GRYFFINDOR!"

She looked down at her robes, and continued trying to create a hole in the ground that she could sink through. Expectedly, it didn't work.

"Hey, is anyone sitting here?"

She looked up, startled. The red-head flashed a grin at her.

"Sure, why not?" Katrina was uncomfortable in her own skin. The only time she felt truly at peace was when... well, better not to think about that.

The red-headed boy - Fred, his name was - attempted to strike up a conversation. "So, where you from?"

Katrina stared at him, trying to discern any arrogance or an attempt to humiliate her. Nothing. A freckled, honest face watched her expectantly.

She tucked a stray strand of long tawny hair behind her ear. Well, he was trying. Why shouldn't she?

"I live on the edge of the North York Moors."

"Oh. What's your name?" He was trying way too hard to be friendly.

"Katrina. Lupine," she relented.

"Fred Weasley." He stuck out his hand.

Cautiously she took it, as though it was going to blow up in her face at any second.

"You don't have many friends, do you – oh, wait. I'm so sorry, Katrina, that came out wrong –"His ears turned pink.

Katrina was wounded. That was a serious blow to her eleven-year-old pride. She narrowed her eyes. "For your information, _Fred Weasley, _I-"

"Oi, Fred! Who's your friend?" Another boy plopped down on the seat on Katrina's right side.

Katrina turned to glare at the new-comer, and did a double-take. The boy on the right side was a perfect copy of Fred! She was speechless for a second before she realized they must have been twins.

The twin wasted no time. "Come on, Fred, introduce us!"

Katrina stuck out her hand quickly, perfectly capable of introducing herself, thank you very much. "Katrina Lupine."

"George Weasley. The better looking one."

She had to smile.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Fred and George's heads snapped around in unison, glaring. It was after the feast, and Katrina was following the Gryffindor Prefect up to the Common Room. She stopped when she realized that the pure malice rolled off whoever was standing behind them in waves.

A short boy with white-blond hair, grey eyes and an ugly smirk stood behind them. "More Weasleys? I'd have thought your mother might have gotten tired of popping out so many of you. After all, you're all alike - red hair, freckles, hand-me-down robes. Haven't you gotten tired of looking so stupid? And you," he said, turning to Katrina, "a pretty little thing like you shouldn't be with poverty-stricken Muggle-lovers like these two. Why don't you stick with me?" The cocksure look on his face boiled her blood.

Silence filled the air for a second as she put words together in her head, trying to come up with a suitable comeback. She had always been shit at those. Katrina made sure that what she was doing wouldn't absolutely destroy any chance of ever finding friends, whisked out her wand and advanced on him, fury filling her voice.

"Listen here, you disgusting ferret. I don't know who you think you are, but I've been here for all of an hour and can already tell who the conceited, spoiled brats are, and take it from me, I'm looking at the biggest one in the entire school right now. So get lost before I turn you into something so foul not even the fleas will come near you!"

The boy opened and closed his mouth, stunned. Katrina flicked her wand dangerously, causing gold sparks to spit from the tip. That was it for the Slytherin; he turned tail and fled, almost flattening a small Hufflepuff in his hurry to get away.

Katrina shook her head; she hated those kinds of people. She turned around to look at the twins. One look at their faces said it all. _Great. Prepare to scare off the only two possible friends you're ever going to make._

Fred was the first to speak. "Well, this is undoubtedly the start of a most beautiful friendship."

George grinned. "Anyone who can threaten Nescio Malfoy like that is more than okay in my book."

"And, Katrina, about what I said earlier-"

"Forget it. It's fine."


	2. Chapter 2: The Verdict for the Wolf

McGonagall managed to catch Katrina on her way to Charms a few days later.

"Professor Dumbledore would like to see you now, Lupine."

Katrina's stomach flipped over. "Have I done anything wrong?"

Minerva reassured her pupil. "No, no, it's just that he would like to talk about-"

"Yes, okay." Katrina interrupted her before she went any further. She turned to the twins. "Go ahead. I'll catch up."

They nodded at the same time, flashed their trademark grins and walked away, joking about that morning's breakfast.

"Miss Lupine. I trust the year is going well?"

"Fine, thank you, professor." Katrina stood in Albus Dumbledore's office, watching Fawkes watch her.

"Would you care for a Whizzing Fizzbanger? I find they have a quite interesting effect."

"No, thanks."

"Then let's get down to business. Have you been restless?"

_He knows, _she told herself, _and you know he knows. Just trust him and tell him._ "A little," she murmured, shifting from side to side.

"You know, I find your case intriguing. How a natural Animagus was born I shall most likely never know."

Katrina stayed silent.

"You are restless because you were born to morph into your animal form. I wonder if you you could remind me -"

"A wolf, sir."

"Yes, of course. Now, as to the matter of morphing without scaring your fellow students to death, I shall inform the other teachers as to your gift..."

_No. Please don't._

"...and allow you to have free roam of the Forbidden Forest after hours. I ask, that if you are a hunter, which by the looks of you you most surely are, you kill smaller animals, preferably non-magical ones. You will find that the forest is quite well stocked with rabbits and deer."

"Thank you, sir."

"You may leave now, Katrina. Oh, and give my apologies to Professor Flitwick for making you late."

As she turned to go, Dumbledore called after her.

"I trust you have friends?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do you trust them?"

She hesitated for a moment. Did she trust Fred and George? "Yes."

"I suggest that you tell them, or rather, show them, your secret. Secrets between friends only brews distrust."

"Thank you, sir."

Professor Dumbledore smiled, and the light glanced off of his half-moon shaped spectacles. "Good luck, Katrina."


	3. Chapter 3: The Showing of the Wolf

"Alright, what was it you wanted to show us?"

Katrina pulled her friends, each by one hand, towards the Forbidden Forest. "Just come on, and I'll show you!"

It was a few weeks after her short talk with Dumbledore, and every few nights she snuck out of bed and down to the forest to morph. Now, she felt it was the time to show the twins. If they didn't run away in horror.

"Okay, whatever you do, don't freak out." She had led them to the edge of the forest.

George grinned. "From the sounds of it, Katrina, you'd think you have something scary to show us."

"That depends on your point of view." It was too late to wait any longer.

Morphing into the large, elegant silver wolf was easy enough. What was hard was waiting for the twins' reactions.

"Wicked!"

"That's fantastic!"

Katrina cocked her head to the side. Whatever reaction she had been expecting. It was certainly not this.

"What are you? An Animagus or something?"

She nodded, then turned back into a girl again. "A naturally-born one."

"Isn't that impossible?"

"Technically, yes."

The twins' smiles grew even bigger, then together they said, "Brilliant!"

"Hey, Kat, guess what we got!" George sing-song interrupted her concentration on her Charms studies.

Katrina looked up, an eyebrow raised. "Another detention notice?"

It had been three weeks, and the Weasley twins had already had six detentions, three of which had been with Severus Snape, the Potions master. Katrina had managed to stay out of all but one - unfortunately, one with Snape. She never meant to cause trouble, but being best friends with Fred and George kind of put you in the wrong place at the wrong time, all the time.

"Nope - even better." The twins sat down on either side of her. "Go on - guess!"

"Oh, wow! What could be better than a detention notice?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "Could it be a-"

"Wrong!" Fred sang out. "Wrong, wrong, whatever you guess, it'll be wrong!"

The twins gleefully spread their catch out on the table in front of her.

"Oh, wow - blank parchment."

"We filched it from Filch's office this morning. It does something, right, because we were walking along the hallway, trying to figure out what it would do -"

"- when I was holding my wand against the map, trying to steady it, and I said something like 'good', or something -"

"- and the parchment jerked, like it was alive or something. I tell you, Kat, it scared us half out of our trousers -"

"- but when we figure out what it does it'll be -"

"- bloody brilliant!" The twins finished triumphantly, grinning at her a pair of Cheshire Cats.

She rolled her eyes. "Alright, but if this is a practical joke, Mrs Weasley's not going to be very happy when you two come home with your spleens missing and -"

"No, no, no joke. Just help us figure out how to unlock it..."

So passed two hours of fruitless guessing. They tried nearly everything from 'open says-me!' (something George thought he recalled from a Muggle story he had heard once) to 'open up, you damn paper!' The parchment had actually replied to the latter saying, and as the ink spread across the parchment, they eagerly leaned over it, convinced they had gotten on to something, only to be promptly discouraged once again: 'Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs cordially greet you and ask that you try again, maybe with some nicer language, you bunch of first-year -"

But at that point, Katrina had turned away, blushing at the words on the parchment.

As the ink dissolved, Fred cursed. "We are never going to work this out!"

"Three more tries, then we give up," Katrina decided.

George first. "Duck, duck open up?"

The other two stared at him.

"What?" He glared defensively back.

"Wait, maybe we aren't trying the right set of words." She leaned over the parchment. "I swear that I am doing... 'good'?"

Nothing, for a moment. Then the parchment jerked, and Katrina's heart jumped with it.

"That was... almost it. Fred, your go."

"Um...I...swear... that I am up to _no_ good!" he finished, pointing his wand over the parchment.

Nothing. Then, the ink sprawled across the page once more.

_Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs Proudly Present - The Marauder's Map._

"Wicked," the three of them breathed together, as they opened to find a map of Hogwarts, complete with moving footprints of Snape in the dungeons, Nescio Malfoy, along with three of his goons, along one of the hallways, Trewlaney in the Divination tower, and Dumbledore, pacing, in his office. There were many more footprints as well, including their own, all over the parchment.

Fred stared at it. "Whatever I said, it was close enough."

Katrina grinned up at the twins. "Boys, I do believe we're going to have some fun this year."


	4. Chapter 4: The Trial of the Wolf

**One Year Before The Philosopher's Stone**

"Kat, are you thinking of trying out for the Quidditch Team?" Fred Weasley asked his friend over the Gryffindor table one morning.

"Yeah; why not? I could be a Chaser. What about you two?"

"Dunno yet. We were just thinking of going to see what happened." George took a large bite of a Cauldron Cake.

"Do you guys have brooms?"

"Nah. We're just gunna borrow some for the tryouts."

Katrina watched nevously as Angelina, one of her other friends, zoomed overhead to put _another _Quaffle past Oliver Wood, the fourth-year Keeper. _She's really good. _Angelina landed with eight goals in the two minutes, the best so far.

Charlie Weasley, the seventh year captain and Seeker, smiled warmly at Angelina. "Well done. Next up, Katrina Lupine."

Katrina mounted the Cleansweep Five she had borrowed, and kicked up hard from the ground, climbing easily with the Quaffle in hand. She zipped over the field, approaching Wood. She narrowed her eyes and faked a shot into the left hoop. He dived to block, and she scored through the middle hoop.

_One. _

_ Two._

_ Three._

_ Four._

She had a little more than a minute to go. Another Quaffle hurtled past Wood into the right hoop.

_Five._

_ Six._

_ Seven._

Blocked. She grabbed the red ball and tried again.

_ Eight._

_ Nine._

One more.

_Ten._

"Time's up!" Charlie yelled from the ground.

Katrina landed to a wave of praise from almost everyone, even Angelina.

"Nice job!" Johnson congratulated her.

"Just lucky. You're the one who did a great job," Katrina told her.

"Alright, everyone who came here had a outstanding run," Charlie announced to the fifty or so students gathered around him. "The team are as follows: Keeper, Oliver Wood. Beaters, Fred and George Weasley-"

Fred and George high-fived each other. There were mumbles of sibling favoritism, but Fred and George were well-liked, so no one raised their voices.

"Chasers, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson-"

Katrina grinned at Angelina and Katie, and crossed her fingers.

"-and Katrina Lupine. Thank you to everyone for coming."


	5. Chapter 5: The Ongoings of the Wolf

**A/N: **To everyone who's read this far: bless your face. If you want to bother reading this, sorry I haven't put any author's notes in before now; this is my first time and I'm learning. You've all been there, right? You're all nice people, right? Please don't hurt me – eep!

For any of you who feel Katrina is a MS, please tell me; there are a few events where she proves her non-MS-yness, but I don't want her to be perfect.

This chapter is a little dull, but I want to stick to the storyline; if you skip this chapter I won't blame you… BUT KEEP READING!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter or his world. If I did, Lupin, Tonks, Sirius and Fred would all be alive and well.

**The Philosopher's Stone**

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Katrina shook her head at the twins' outburst, clearly heard above the general din.

Harry Potter, the boy who lived, sat down grinning a few seats away from the three. He was soon joined by Ronald Weasley, Fred and George's younger brother. She had met Ron, along with most of the other Weasleys, on Platform 9 and 3 Quarters a year ago.

The year seemed to pass quicker than others. Harry replaced Charlie as Gryffindor's Seeker, and Oliver became the new captain. Fred and George changed their names to Gred and Forge - much to everyone's amusement, including hers. They lost the Quidditch Cup, but won the House Cup, and Quirrell turned out to be harboring Voldemort on the back of his head. At the end of the year, George and Katrina were waiting for Fred to finish packing in the Common Room.

George turned to her, a funny look on his face. "I just realized something. Remember the Christmas holidays, when the three of us bewitched those snowballs to follow Quirrell around?"

"Yeah. What about them?"

"None of us ever thought that we were throwing snowballs straight in the Dark Lord's face!"

Katrina, who had realized what George was saying half-way through his last sentence, collapsed into giggles, soon followed by George himself.

When Fred came down the stairs, he was met by a strange sight: his two best friends practically rolling on the floor, laughing so hard they were crying.

"What did I miss?"

**The Chamber of Secrets**

De-gnomeing the garden was harder than it sounded.

Katrina pulled another gnome from the garden and tossed it over the fence. A thin sheen of sweat coated her forehead. Fred and George worked alongside her. She was staying with them over the summer break.

"Percy got twelve bloody O.W.L.S," grumbled George. "Mum'll be expecting us to get as many come exams."

"Next year!" Katrina threw a handful of dirt at him. "Don't get me started thinking about them!"

"Yeah, otherwise you'll be studying all year round and we'll never get a moment's peace," Fred teased. "You're like an older Hermione Granger!"

"Did you hear about Harry and Ron's entrance yesterday?" asked Katrina, looking up from the morning edition of the Daily Prophet. They sat in the Great Hall, amid the din of hundreds of students.

"Of course we heard about it; he's our brother!"

"Yeah, our younger brother too." Fred's disgruntled face made her smile.

"I blame you two."

"What? Why?"

"You're the ones who had the idea to rescue Harry via flying car. If you hadn't had the idea originally, they never would have thought of it." Katrina was always a little grumpy in the morning.

"Oi!" Ron looked up from his seat in between Hermione and Harry further down the table, cross, a mouthful of bread hanging out of his mouth. "We 'ould too 'ave thought of it!"

George ignored his younger brother. "We should have been the ones to pull off something like that."

"Where would that put me?"

"Give me a sec... yep, you'd be along for the ride." Fred grinned down at his eggs.

"Forced by you two criminal masterminds, obviously." Fred and George had already made a name for themselves as genius pranksters, and her being their best friend, she had quite a reputation too. Somehow she just managed to get caught up in whatever joke they were currently planning.

"Kidnapped, more like."

"_And _we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher; this Lockhart bloke." Katrina changed the subject quickly.

"Whadya think, Kat? New crush?"

"You wish. He has more hair gel than brains."

Both of the twins gave her funny looks. "Hair gel?"

She smiled patiently. "Never mind."


	6. Chapter 6: The Outburst of the Wolf

"And so students, this was how I finished my year with the Yeti. Now if any of you wish to purchase my fascinating book, signed by me himself, you may speak to me after class..." Lockhart seemed to love the sound of his own voice.

_Does he ever stop? _Katrina was almost dead from boredom. She glanced at the twins, a row across from her, wondering if they were planning anything. At least it would be more interesting than Lockhart go on about his many travels - quite mind-numbing, and likely all made up. Unfortunately George and Fred looked just as jaded as she was.

Oliver Wood woke all of the team up at the crack of dawn to practice. They sat in the changing room, half-asleep. Wood was the only one who was truly awake. Harry was the last to arrive.

"There you are, Harry, what kept you?" he turned to the board, which was elaborately drawn with a rather complicated diagram. As he launched into a speech about new tactics, Fred's head drooped right onto Katrina's shoulder and he began to snore. Katrina, half dozing herself, barely noticed it. Her head jerked up as Wood finished. She hadn't heard anything.

"Any questions?"

_Yeah. What was that part again, the part that went from 'Harry, what kept you?' to 'Any questions'?_

George was more awake than she. "I've got a question, Oliver. Why couldn't you have told us yesterday when we were awake?"

Oliver glowered.

Katrina kicked off, her new Cleansweep Eleven maneuvering the sharp turns she loved to make so well. A green flash caught her eye. She spun around in mid-air. _Oh, fantastic. Slytherin._

She landed quickly and stood next to Angelina and Katie, staring defiantly at the all-man Slytherin Quidditch team.

"But I booked the pitch! I booked it!" Oliver was shouting at Marcus Flint, the Slytherin captain.

Fred and George ignored everyone else. They were looking with loathing at Nescio Malfoy, who just so happened to be one of Slytherin's Beaters.

"...we need to train our new Seeker!" Flint was saying slyly.

"Seeker? What new Seeker?"

Out behind the six other, larger boys, stepped a small, thin boy with a face that Katrina knew and hated so well.

"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" Fred asked with distaste.

"Funny you should mention Mr Malfoy." Flint leered at the Gryffindor team. "I want you all to get an eyeful of the generous gift he's given everyone on the team."

Only then did Katrina notice their style of their broomsticks. Sleek and thin, they gleamed with a voraciousness that screamed _speed. _

"It wipes the floor with the old Cleansweep models," Flint grinned nastily at the twins' and her own broomsticks, all Cleansweeps.

Hermione and Ron had made their way onto the pitch by this time.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy_ their way in," Hermione said sharply, "_They _got in on pure talent."

Katrina flashed Hermione a grin. She really liked the younger girl, and Hermione was very good in a pinch.

"Why don't you keep your nose out of this?" Draco seethed.

"Filthy little Mudblood," Nescio added, spitting the last word.

Fred, George, Katrina and Oliver launched themselves at various members at the Slytherin Quidditch team at the same time. It took Harry, Katie and Angelina, plus a few of the more decent Slytherins, to hold them back.

Ron whipped out his wand. "You'll pay for that, Malfoy!" he shouted. "Both of you! _Eat slugs!"_

A loud bang echoed around the stadium, and suddenly Ron was on the ground, belching up slugs. The Slytherin team roared with laughter. Katrina saw red.

"You think you can just waltz onto the pitch during _our _practise time, insult and laugh at two different second-year students, and think you can just _get away with it?" _Katrina said shrilly. "I think you've done enough damage for today, don't you? Get lost!"

Flint sized her up. "Yeah, Lupine? Who's gonna make us?"

One minute the Chaser and Slytherin captain were facing off, the next minute he was rolling on the ground, with giant bat ears, steam pouring out of his nose and bright green skin.

"Who's next?" She glared at the Slytherins. "No one? Then I'll thank you to wait your turn for Quidditch practice slots."

The green-and-silver-wearing buffoons got the hell out of there as fast as their little legs could carry them.

Katrina turned to find her team watching her, mouths agape.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side," Oliver said, breaking into an easy smile. "Well done, Katrina. Right, everyone, mount up!"


	7. Chapter 7: The Instability of the Wolf

**A/N:** As you may or may not have noticed, in the last chapter I used direct quotes from the book. Don't flame, it's just so I can keep the realism of the books. Occasionally I'll insert actual dialogue from either the movies or the books, but mostly it's just my own stuff - I suppose this is an A/N/Disclaimer mashup. Again, no flames on Katrina's ability to hex the Slytherin captain; it's just her temprament. I could have as easily have written a whole story on a completely normal witch who does absolutely nothing with her life and dies of old-age; but that would be boring. R&R, if thou pleasest.

**The Prisoner of Azkaban**

"So, how was Egypt?" Katrina Lupine sat across from her two best friends, Fred and George Weasley, outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.

"Well, we _almost _managed to lock Percy in a pyramid. Mum stopped us though." Fred looked thoroughly disappointed. "He was just getting so snobbish about his stupid girlfriend, Penelope, and the fact he's been made Head Boy. Plus the fact that our grades are slipping-"

"To be honest, Kat, I don't know what we would do without you." George looked sheepish.

"Yeah, watch out. One day I might wise up and leave the two of you to drown." All three of them knew that would never happen.

They sat silent for a minute, until the crowd around the parlor dispersed. Fred leaned forward. "Okay, Kat, what's bothering you?"

She rubbed her hand behind her neck. "Okay, so something's been wrong during my morphs over the summer. The wolf just feels..I don't know, uncontrolled or something, and I'm really worried I'm going to end up hurting someone. I almost attacked a Muggle; I only just changed back in time. He gave me a very strange look, as I was covered in leaves and dirt, but he didn't see me in wolf form." She smiled weakly.

"Does anyone know?" Both of the twins looked concerned.

"No; not even my parents. I didn't want this to jeopardize my chances of coming to Hogwarts this year."

George frowned. "Well, maybe one of the Hogwarts teachers will know more."

Crookshanks, a fat orange cat with a rather squashed face jumped up onto Katrina's lap. She smiled at the ugly tom, who settled down and purred as the dark-haired girl stroked his back, lost in her own insecure thoughts.

Katrina sat across from Fred and George, talking avidly about the professional Quidditch season. The Holyhead Harpies, the only all-witch team, had had a very good year, and she enjoyed teasing the twins about it, as they had been skeptical on the subject of an all-girls team rising to success. But suddenly she fell silent.

She glanced out the window. Tendrils of ice cracked their way across the window, and the sky outside had gone completely dark.

"What's going o-" began George, but he was interrupted by himself.

Katrina let out a squeak of fear, and tried to draw her wand at the thing hovering in front of them. If there was such a thing as a demon, this was it. A three-meter high humanoid covered by a long, ripped cloth. Its body was visibly decaying and its breath rattled through a hole in its mouth.

She felt like she would never be happy again, and her wand dropped with a clatter to the floor. Katrina was frozen with terror.

It watched them for a few moments, and thankfully moved on.

When they were able to move, they turned to each other.

"What the _bloody hell _was that?"

"So, is Harry okay?"

"Yeah, Ron said he was fine. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher saved him, or something."

They were walking down the hallway, past a suit of armor and narrowly missing walking through the Fat Friar.

"Hey, Kat, why don't you ask Lupin?" Fred asked.

"Huh?"

"Lupin, you know, the new teacher. Maybe he'd know something about Animagi."

"Alright, I'll try it."

"Excuse me, Professor Lupin?" Katrina asked meekly, trying to get the teacher's attention before he disappeared into his office.

"Yes - Katrina, isn't it?" He turned around to give her his regard. He was pale, and although quite young, had premature age lines and streaks of grey in his lank brown hair.

She swallowed. "Sir, I'm unsure if Dumbledore told you, but-"

"Ah, yes, of course. You're the natural Animagus he was talking about. Yes, he said you might need my help sooner or later this year."

Katrina frowned. "Why? How did he know?"

"Well, Professor Dumbledore is a very perceptive man. The way his mind works is unknown to the majority of the world, but let it rest that he has an uncanny way of predicting what will happen."

She let it go, but filed the fact away into her mind for later.

"So, Katrina, what seems to be the problem?"

"It would seem that, well, in the past few months that I'm... losing control of my, um, animal form. It's been, er, difficult to - control it and, I'm worried that I might hurt someone, or lose human dominance and go completely feral." She was uncomfortable talking about it with anyone other than Fred or George, but felt it had to be done.

His brow furrowed in thought. "That is strange. Perhaps - perhaps. I wonder..." He seemed lost in thought. He remained silent for a few minutes, and she found herself wondering if he had forgotten her, when he looked up.

"It's a long shot, but it may just work. Katrina, are you aware of the Patronus Charm?"

"Yes, but Charms were never my strongest point. I'm really better at Transfiguration-"

"That's not important. You know what it is - have you ever cast it?"

"Well, no-"

"Okay then. Do you have a class to get to now?"

"In about ten minutes, I have to be at Potions-"

"Can you come to my office at ten a.m. tomorrow morning?"

"Yes, I think so-"

"Good, I'll see you then. You might want to do some research on the Patronus before then." With that, he left the room, leaving Katrina standing there wondering what had just happened.


	8. Chapter 8: The Patronus of the Wolf

"Wow. So he just kept interrupting you?"

"Yeah, it was like he had somewhere to be or something - it was really weird. But I think he can help me."

"I dunno, he seems bizarre to me." Both of the twins looked doubtful.

"He's just a little... eccentric." Katrina tried to reassure herself as much as them.

"To cast the perfect Patronus, you must first think of the happiest thing that ever happened to you. It must be a powerful memory - allow it to fill you up and stay focused. Then say, very clearly, _Expecto Patronum." _Lupin's office was plain and simple. Cages hid in corners, afraid to show their faces. Most of them were covered by cloth; perhaps to conceal the atrocities inside. The air was cold, and Katrina found herself wishing she had brought a sweater. Then again, that wouldn't have been very practical to wear it over her school robes.

Katrina thought about her happiest memory. Perhaps, getting her owl? Cheesy, but worth a try. She summoned the memory and held onto it; allowing it to fill her - or close enough.

"_Expecto Patronum!" _she cried, pointing her wand at nowhere in particular and feeling rather silly. Nothing happened. Then her wand spluttered.

Lupin nodded. "That was very well done, for a first try. Again."

Half an hour later, Katrina was thoroughly exhausted and had not been successful at casting a proper Patronus.

"Come back tomorrow, Katrina. We'll try again then."

_Do we have to? _Her shoulders slumped as she slouched to the door, remembering only at the last second to mumble a thank you over her shoulder.

She was trudging along the corridor when Nescio Malfoy came upon her.

He was accompanied by a group of cronies, including a ratty-looking girl, a stick-thin boy and a tall boy, the latter being rather unfortunately good-looking.

"Hello, Lupine." Malfoy grinned nastily. "Going somewhere?"

"Get lost, Malfoy. I don't have time today." She tried to make her way past them; they blocked her way.

"Oh, I don't think that's very nice, do you?" He addressed the other three, who shook their heads in unison as if they had practiced it. "No, I think that you'll need to come with us for some – detention."

"Students can't give out detention," she muttered thickly, too tired to discern his real message.

"That's not what I meant." He looked incredulous.

"Yeah, it was."

"No, it wasn't."

By now Katrina had realized what was going on, and decided to have a go with it. Whereas before she was just wearily arguing, now she was going to mess with their heads. "You – Douger, right?" She asked the girl. "You heard Malfoy say detention, right?"

The girl nodded, seemingly dumb.

"Right. And as students all know, only professors can give out detention, right?"

"I… I guess so."

She turned to Nescio. "You're right, Malfoy, that was what you meant. Now, seeming as you're now giving out detentions, there is a rather naughty first-year Ravenclaw down in the kitchens who needs seeing to. I suggest you get down there immediately." And because she couldn't help it, she added, "Off you pop!"

"But…. But I'm not really giving out detentions!" At this point the Slytherin just looked confused.

"Oh, yes, you are."

"No, I'm not!" His voice was whiny.

"Professor Snape gave me direct instructions to tell you that you can now give out detentions."

"He did?"

"Yes."

"Okay… then you're in detention."

_Shit. Worm your way out of this one, Lupine._

"Okay. Thanks, Malfoy! Detention, here I come!" She skipped down the corridor, whistling tunelessly.

"Yeah. Uh, you get there right away! Come on, guys, to the kitchens!"

As soon as she rounded the corner, out of their sight, she leaned against it, particularly proud of herself. _Who says a damsel in distress needs a knight? _

"One more try, and then we'll stop."

Katrina let her shoulders fall. She hadn't succeeded yet, and was feeling an odd mix of anger and disappointment. She raised her long, elegant wand.

_Come on, happy thought, happy thought..._

That was a good thought. "_EXPECTO PATRONUM_!"

With a _whoosh_ of air, a glowing animal erupted from the tip of her wand. The creature loped around the room, seemingly searching for something, before coming to rest in front of her, large, intelligent eyes studying both Katrina and Professor Lupin.

Katrina gaped at the wolf. For a few seconds she did nothing, but she turned to Lupin.

"What now?" It was whispered, as if she was afraid of frightening her Patronus off.

"Morph."

"Pardon?"

"Morph now, Katrina."

"Sir, I don't think - I mean, what if I-"

"_Now."_ It was insistent.

She morphed, slipping into her white wolf skin as easily as one slid into a warm bath. But she was scared. What if she attacked Lupin? What if she broke out of the room and went on a rampage? What if she went feral and couldn't change back? That had almost happened once, over the summer. She had changed back to human in the nick of time. A second longer and-

She realized she was shaking. The Patronus seemed real, almost, now that they were at eye level (well, nearly, she was just a touch smaller than it). It padded to her, seeming more like a real wolf, a pack-member, rather than a charm conjured out out of her wand. It stood next to her, then pressed itself against her.

She had been expecting the sensation that she was walking through a ghost, but was entirely wrong. The fur felt warm and real. Instantly her shakes subsided and she felt calmer. Suddenly she was in control of her Animagus form again. The wolf touched its nose to hers in a way of a short farewell, and faded away, the last drops of silver siphoned up by her wand, lying on the floor. Lupin had watched the entire spectacle, intrigued.

Katrina moved back to human, feeling better than she had in months.

"Amazing," Lupin mused, more to himself than her, "Dumbledore was right. You know, I've never seen a Patronus do that before, but maybe they can be more than just charms."

"Thank you, sir."

"It's no trouble, Katrina." He smiled. "We canids need to stick together."

_What?_

Without giving her time to think it over, he ushered her out and closed the door behind her, leaving her confused. _Oh, well._

"_You gave the Marauder's Map away_?" Katrina's voice was shrilly.

"Relax, Kat, it was to a worthy cause!" George looked guilty.

"Guys, that map was the best thing we ever discovered here, and you just gave it away? Come on!"

"It was to Harry Potter!"

"Explain. Now." Suddenly she felt a lot like Molly Weasley.

"Well, he can't go to Hogsmeade, right, because his jerk of an uncle won't sign it for him, so we showed him that One-Eyed Witch passage, you know, the one that comes up underneath -"

"- Honeydukes, yeah, I know."

"So, you know, we figured he needed more then we did. We've memorized the passages anyways, all three of us."

"I guess." Katrina pouted. "But I still liked watching everyone."

"So did we, Kat." The twins put their arms around her. "We're three stalkers, the lot of us."

_CAREERS ADVICE_

_All fifth-years are to attend a short meeting with their Head of House during the first week of summer term to discuss their future careers. Times of individual appointments are listed below._

"Have you given any thought to what you wish to do after you leave Hogwarts?" McGonagall regarded Katrina with a stern yet mischievous glint in her eye._ Is that even possible?_

"Um, well, I thought about being an Auror for a while, but now... I don't know."

"Well, you're particularly notable in Tranfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures and Charms. Have you ever considered Magizoology?"

"Sorry?"

"The study of magical creatures. Magizoologists can specialize in certain creatures. For example, Newt Scamander specialized in Fire Slugs, and Minorca Bullac in Hippocampi."

Katrina leaned forward, interested. "Well, say I were to go after this. What would I have to do?"

McGonagall passed her a pamphlet, entitled _SO YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE A CHIMAERA?_ "Depending on your beast of choice, you would travel quite a bit, working for the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, probably in the Beast Division. You would study your chosen Beast up close."

"What do I have to pass?"

"You need an 'O' in Care of Magical Creatures, of course. But you need an 'E' or over in Defense Against the Dark Arts, in case of Dark creatures - imperiused beasts for example, and Charms. Oh, and Transfiguration can come in handy, but it's not required." McGonagall finished with a smile.

Katrina leaned over _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, _scanning lengthy paragraphs of text on the Unicorn.

Fred came over and heaved himself into an armchair by the fire. "Ugh. I never want to go through that again. That bloody mess, with McGonagall asking me questions left, right and center about whether or not I want to work at Gringotts. I'm good at Arithmancy and Defense Against the Dark Arts, she tells me. I should be a Curse-Breaker, like Bill, apparently."

"Well, why not?"

"George and I are gonna open a joke shop on Diagon Alley, we're gonna do great and sell loads of merchandise and then we're going to buy and rule the wizarding world with an iron fist."

"Uh-huh. That last step sounds easy."

"Yep." He leaned back and put his arms behind his head. "Easy as... well, nothing comes to mind, but trust me, it'll be easy. What about you?"

"Dunno; McGonagall mentioned Magizoology. Sounds good. You get to study magical beasts out in the wild. So -"

At that moment George came in. "That was bloody awful."

"You too, huh?" Katrina peeked over the back of her chair to see George's lanky hair flopped over his face like a dog's.

He slouched over to a new chair and drooped into it. He blew his hair out of his eyes, and then grinned goofily. "Glad that's over and done with."

Ron walked in, followed by Harry and Hermione. "How was the Career Advice, then?"

Fred jumped up and pinched Ron's cheek, then danced away when his younger brother swung a blow at him.

"Trust me, ickle Ronniekins, you'll be going through the same thing in two years."

Ron flushed red, then mumbled some excuse and made a quick escape. Hermione followed with a disapproving glance at Fred, who was leaning over the back of Katrina's chair. Harry shook his head and left with a smile.


	9. Chapter 9: The Results of the Wolf

**A/N:** Gah! I keep forgetting to put author's notes on! In case anyone was wondering, Lupin being a werewolf isn't going to protrude any further into the plot; it just isn't neccisary for my plotline. This next scene has some influences from the chapter where Harry, Ron and Hermione get their O.W.L.s in the Half-Blood Prince. R&R, if thou pleasest!

**The Goblet of Fire**

Katrina watched the owls approaching from the window of the Burrow nervously. Fred and George sat at the kitchen table, drinking Pumpkin Juice calmly.

"Kat, relax. When you get 'Outstanding' for all nine of your O.W.L.s, then you can complain."

She continued to watch the approaching black dots, wringing her hands.

Mrs Weasley turned from the sink. "Dear, please sit down. Those owls won't approach any faster with you staring at them."

Though soon enough they did, and three owls, two handsome snowies and one elegant tawny soared into the room, landing in front of the twins. Fred put down his Pumpkin Juice, unflustered, and untied the letter on the leg of one of the snowy owls. George took his letter calmly from the leg of the other snowy.

Katrina forced her hand to steady and stroked the tawny's head before detaching her letter. _Katrina Lupine _was written in a swooping hand.

The silence was deafening. Finally, the three of them slit open their letters and pulled the parchment out from inside.

_ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS_

_Pass Grades: Outstanding (O) Fail Grades: Poor (P)_

_ Exceeds Expectations (E) Dreadful (D)_

_ Acceptable (A) Troll (T)_

_KATRINA MAEVE LUPINE HAS ACHIEVED:_

_ Arithmancy: E_

_ Astronomy: O_

_ Care of Magical Creatures: O_

_ Charms: O_

_ Defence Against the Dark Arts: O_

_ Herbology: E_

_ History of Magic: A_

_ Potions: E_

_ Transfiguration: O_

Fred leaned over her shoulder. "I didn't know your middle name was Maeve."

George clapped her on the back. "Nice job, Maevy. Here, swap..."

She scanned down the twin's grades. _Yowch._

Mrs Weasley glared at Fred and George. "Only six O.W.L.s between you - boys, I expected better..."

She trailed off and looked at Katrina's paper. "Katrina, dear, well done. Fred and George, your father will hear of this."

"Please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic!" Dumbledore's voice echoed resolutely through the hall, as two lines of beautiful girls walked into the hall.

Katrina noticed the twins paying special attention to each girl's derriere and busts. She elbowed both of them.

"Stop it, you two. Their eyes are up there."

The twins, for the most part, ignored her.

"And our friends from the North, Durmstrang!"

Two lines of boys - well, men, really - strode into the hall, carrying sticks and pounding them against the floor occasionally, producing sparks. They had the look of Russians and Bulgarians about them.

"_Bloody hell - _it's _Victor Krum!" _

A whisper swept down the Great Hall as the hallowed Quidditch player paced into it, followed by a man in white furs and bad teeth.

Dumbedore proceeded quickly. "It is my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

_What?_ Katrina angrily looked around, to find the rest of the Quidditch team mouthing soundless outrages, from Fred and George to Harry and Angelina.

"This is due to an event that will begin in October... an event known as the Triwizard Tournament. This is a competition that all three schools will take part in. Eternal glory! That's what awaits the student who wins The Triwizard Tournament, but to this that student must survive three tasks. Three _extremely dangerous_ tasks."

"Wicked," the twins breathed together.

Katrina smiled. _Only those two._

" 'Allo - my name iz Gabrielle. Zis is Emmy and Roial." The pretty French girl looked at Katrina expectantly.

"Uh, hi. Katrina Lupine." She shook hands.

She wasn't entirely sure how she suddenly made friends with the three Beauxbaton girls, but suddenly the four of them were talking avidly.

Gabrielle was slim and delicate, with big blue eyes that would turn many a male head. Emmy was slightly plumper, but only by a little, and had long blonde hair that any Slytherin girl would kill for, and Roial was small but attractive.

"This isn't going to work."

"Sure it is," Fred grinned cocksurely at her, putting his arm around her.

George did the same on her other side. "Kat, my friend, when will you learn never to doubt us?"

"Probably never."

The boys were preparing to hoodwink the Goblet of Fire - Katrina had sworn to take no part in what happened next, except to laugh at them when it went disastrously wrong.

"Ready, Fred?"

"Ready, George?"

"Bottoms up!" They crossed arms and gulped their concoction down. Katrina sat next to Hermione, shaking her head.

"I wonder what will happen." Hermione looked up from her book.

"I hope it doesn't kill them. I wouldn't have anyone to, you know, taunt."

The twins jumped over the age-line and a ragged cheer went up. Fred and George looked over at Kat and stuck out their tongues in unison.

She snorted. "If I didn't know that they were 16, I would have thought they were 4."

They put their names in the goblet, and the two girls leaned forward unconsciously.

_Maybe they've actually done it._

A few seconds later, however, the Goblet's flames turned from their natural blue to a disconcerting red, and the twins were thrown back by some invisible force.

Katrina stood up, worried for a second, but sat back down when she saw they were unharmed - and_ growing beards._

"So that's what happens."

Fred looked at George. George looked at Fred.

"You said-"

"You said-"

They began to fight like bear cubs, rolling over and over, clawing at each other's faces, much to everyone's amusement.

Katrina sighed. "I'd better go break this up before they hurt themselves."

"Bye, Katrina."

Fred passed a piece of parchment over to Ron.

_Hurry up or all the good ones will be gone._

Katrina and George watched his reaction. Ron looked at his brother darkly. _Who're you going with? _he mouthed.

Fred raised his eyebrows, mouthed _Watch, _and turned around. Throwing a well-aimed piece of paper at the back of Angelina Johnson's head, he quickly asked her to the dance and procured a yes.

Katrina's shoulders fell a little. What had she been expecting? She knew the answer, and was annoyed with herself for it.


	10. Chapter 10: The Dance of the Wolf

"George, who're you going with?" Katrina carried her books in her arms as she walked down the hall.

"Dunno yet. I'll find someone eventually. What about you, Kat?" He didn't seem to care much about who went with him to the ball.

A small pack of Durmstrang boys walked by. The two Gryffindors would have ignored them, except a tall one slowed and stopped her.

"Katrina, right?" He was tall, dark and handsome, she immediately noticed, and for a school taught in a different language, he spoke remarkably good English.

"Yes..."

"My name is Alek. Would you do me the honor of going to the Yule Ball with me?"

She was taken by surprise, but recovered herself. "Uh...sure. Thanks, Alek."

He bowed to her, and joined his friends, who clapped him on the back, and grinned, glancing her way, winking at her.

She glanced at George. "Well, some Russian boy asked me."

"_Oui, oui, _of course we vill never pass up an opportunity to give someone a makeover." Roial smiled at her, looking extremely excited.

"I will find Gabrielle and Emmy and meet you outside your Common Room in 'alf an 'our, shall we say?"

Katrina would not have asked for it if she hadn't have needed it, but her sense of fashion was zip. She nodded gratefully.

"You 'ave very nice eyes, you know?" Emmy remarked as she brushed out Katrina's long, straight dark brown hair.

"_Oui. _I will 'ave to outline them with gold eyeliner. Very subtle, yet effective, it will bring out the gold flecks in your eyes. And of course, there will be a...green dress, I would think."

"Oh, I don't know...green's never really been my color-"

"I beg to differ," Roial piped up, "You vill look lovely, trust us. Now, just close your eyes...Katrina?"

"Yes?" She was imagining with a thrill of something half-horror and half-excitement what she would look like.

"'Oo are those two boys you are always with? Are you double-dating?"

"What?" Katrina frowned, irritated. "No, I'm not. They're my friends."

"Oh. Well, you 'ould have thought one of zem would 'ave asked you out by now. That is what normally happens in Beauxbatons by now."

"Yeah. You would have thought."_ Do they not think I'm pretty? _She pushed her features subconsciously into an ugly pout. _What does it matter, anyways. Alek thinks I'm pretty enough to ask out to the Ball._

20 minutes later she was ready.

"Okay, open your eyes, Katrina," Gabrielle said softly.

She took a deep breath and opened them.

There was a stranger in front of her.

The girl was beautiful; her body, slim yet oh-so-lovingly protected with a slight layer of pudge was outlined by a satin green strapless dress that swooped to the floor, banded by a gold sash. It wasn't body-hugging or ill-fitting.

Her hair was slightly wavy, soft with long curls and spritzed with a light hair-spray. Her eyes were indeed outlined with a subtle gold that brought out the green in her eyes. Other than mascara that lengthened and darkened her already long lashes, she had no makeup on. A small crystal necklace completed the outfit.

Katrina half-smiled. So did the girl in front of her. Only then did she realize; the girl was her.

"I look amazing!" She hugged Gabrielle, Roial and Emmy. "Thank you!"

She walked tentatively down the steps, worried that she would trip in her sky-high shoes. Katrina felt like a different person, and certainly turned a few heads as she walked to the entrance.

Alek met her there, wearing the traditional Durmstrang fur outfit; nevertheless, he looked very handsome.

"You look beautiful," he told her.

"You're quite dashing yourself."

He offered her his arm and together they walked into the hall.

It had been decked out extravagantly. Snow fell softly from the ceiling and decorations swooped from every angle.

Alek and Katrina stood in awkward silence for a while - she had never been good at small talk – when George and a Ravenclaw girl he barely knew came up. He gave her and Alek a once-over.

George raised his eyebrows. "Wow, Kat, you clean up nice."

"Thanks, George, so do-"

"I mean, you look like a girl, for once."

"Well, bless your little heart." She felt venomous and mean. It was too touchy, some part of her knew, but she was sensitive after the conversation with the Beauxbatons girls.

George opened his mouth to say something in surprise, no doubt, when-

A sudden cheer; Fleur Delacour and - what was his name again? - Roger Davies walked in, followed by Victor Krum and Hermione Granger. _Good for her. _Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang came next. Cedric was sweet, a year older than her. Cho was a year younger than her, and seemed like a Mary-Sue who shed tears frequently – not the type of girl Katrina wanted or needed to know.

Finally, Harry Potter and Parvati Patil came in. Parvati seemed entirely in her element, waving and blowing kisses. Harry, by contrast, seemed nervous and quiet. Parvati was an odd choice, Katrina had to admit. She had never seen Parvati with Harry before. _Maybe Harry just waited too long._

The ball went smoothly. Alek was a good dancer, and lead the dances, as Katrina's own dancing skills were limited. Katrina's eyes stayed on him as they waltzed around the ballroom, although occasionally they strayed to other couples. George was dancing with that Ravenclaw, while Fred was dancing so exuberantly with Angelina that people around them were backing away for fear of injury.

The dancing went on for hours. The Weird Sisters switched from low, melancholy tunes to fast-paced, high-pitched screamers that went on for two minutes at a time.

"So...any nice girls at Durmstrang?"

"Not really... not like here. You know, you have very pretty eyes..." He trailed off, leaning forward.

_Oh god, he's going to kiss me. What the hell do I do? _Her mind blanked, but she made a split-second decision to just go with it. Alek was nice, smart, handsome and probably kissed really well. And he genuinely seemed to like her.

"_Alright, you happy couples. Having a good time tonight?_" The Weird Sister's lead singer cracked out across the room.

Alek leaned back, their lips having not yet touched. He winked at her. "After this announcement, yes?"

She wanted to hex the Weird Sisters then and there. _Damn. So close._

"_Alright! Next, as part of the ball, we wanna ask each guy to ask a girl they did not ask to the ball with them tonight - to _slow-dance!"

Katrina stopped. Alek raised his eyebrows.

"Any recommendations?"

"Well, uh, Katie, over there, is really nice...and Angelina, I can't see her now, but you must have spotted her...she's the one who was so enthusiastic...and, there's a few other girls who're younger than me...there, that pack of fourth-years..." _Why did the Weird Sisters have to speak up now, of all times?_

"I will ask someone when I've made sure a decent boy has asked you."

"Excuse me, but wouldst thy care to caper about on the dance floor like a pair of drunken baboons?"

Katrina knew who it was before she had even turned around.

"I except thy kind invitation, Lord Frederick. Angelina, this be Alek Shavenik. You might find that he be a more than capable dancer."

Angelina shook her head, smiling. She took Alek by the arm. "That's how they always act. So come on, tell me about yourself."

Fred took her waist.

"Have you ever actually danced a slow-dance before?"

"No."

"Good. Me either. Just, uh, try not to fall over, and I'll do the same."

They did relatively well, all things considered. Katrina only stepped on Fred's toes three times, and he only stumbled twice. At least they were laughing about it.

But the smile melted off her face as soon as she saw how well Alek and Angelina were doing - very well. As in _lip-locked_ well.


	11. Chapter 11: The Feelings of the Wolf

Katrina let go and just stared, disbelieving. Fred followed her gaze and raised an eyebrow.

_ "_Wow. Ang works _fast. _They've known each other what, four minutes?"

"Something like that." Angrily, she made her way over to the snogging twosome. "Uh, Alek?"

He broke off his snog-fest, a guilty grin spread across his face. Angelina looked sheepish, and made excuses to leave.

Katrina turned to Alek. "Well?"

Nothing.

"You have _nothing_ to say for yourself?" Her voice got dangerously high, yet no one else seemed to notice. "What, do you just kiss every girl you dance with?"

"Kat, I-"

"Don't you _dare_ call me Kat! I'm leaving now, so you can just find someone else to cheat on in the full expanse of a few hours." She turned on her heel and stalked away, leaving Alek to fend for himself.

Tears swum in her eyes, and she swiped a hand angrily across them, but they spilled over anyways. _Damn. _Everytime she cried, her nose lit up like Rudolph's. That was why she didn't do often. Or at least tried to.

It didn't really feel like he had cheated on her. She had only known he existed for a few days at the most. But it hurt.

"Katrina, wait up!"

"Go _away!" _The last person she wanted to talk to was Angelina Johnson.

"Katrina," Angelina said, catching her arm, "I'm so sorry. He just went for it, and well, I have to admit, I went for it back, but I didn't mean to-"

She jerked her arm away. "It's fine. Now leave me alone."

Angelina stopped, seeing there was no point. "I'm sorry..."

Katrina didn't stop until she reached an empty hallway, far from the sights and sounds of the Yule Ball. She sat down with her back against a pillar, and let the tears stream down her cheeks soundlessly.

She put a hand to her face; her fingers came away black. _Great. My mascara is running or whatever. Could this night get any better?_

Katrina heard footsteps behind her, and quickly turned her face away. She didn't want anyone to see her like this.

"Kat, you okay?" Fred sounded concerned.

"Yeah, Fred told me what happened." George did too.

"I'm fine." Her voice shook.

"No, you're not."

"Leave now, please."

"Kat-"

"_Leave!_"

They left. And Katrina was left to herself, sitting against a pillar on a beautiful moonlit night, with her first heart-break.

The next morning she wished she hadn't yelled. The twins looked away when she tried to say good morning. Was she too proud to apologize?

Apparently, yes.

A full day passed in self-pity. She was wallowing so deeply in it that when Professor Flitwick asked her what exactly the incantation was for making flowering plants grow faster, she didn't reply until the teacher had called her name three times. Even then, her mind was cloudy and it took her at least ten seconds to decipher precisely what he was asking. Thankfully, Flitwick didn't pursue the matter.

That evening, she collapsed on her bed and stuffed a pillow over her face. "_Ium neer gettgn up aginn."_

Katie, the only other girl in the room, sat on the end of Katrina's bed. "Permission to speak, General Misery?"

"_Uhhhhhh_," she groaned, the pillow still clamped firmly over her mouth. "_Gramtidd."_

"Stop- first take that pillow off your face."

When Katrina didn't move, Katie pulled her friend up.

Katrina looked at her dully. "What?" The question was sullen.

"Look, first of all, Angelina feels awful. She's been teary all day and has threatened to hex Alek any time he's tried to come near her, which had been a total of about six times since this morning."

Katrina tried to smile. It came out more like a grimace.

"Second, Alek's a jerk. Turns out he's really popular at Durmstrang, but only because he's had as many girlfriends as the number of times Harry Potter's escaped certain death. Third, Fred and George are really worried about you-"

"Didn't seem like it this morning." Again, sullen.

"Will you stop feeling sorry for yourself?" Katie cried, hitting her hard with the pillow. "They only ignored you because they were afraid you'd yell at them again."

Katrina winced. _Okay, note to self; control bad-tempered emotions for later use._

"They've been asking after you all day, but you've been a complete loner for the past twelve hours, so no one knows."

When Katrina looked down at her hands shame-faced, Katie put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Katrina, there are a lot worse things to get upset over than arseholes like Alek Shavenik. Losing friends like Angelina, Fred and George, for example. Or failing your Charms exams because you're so swallowed up in yourself you can't concentrate. Come on, Katrina, before the Ball you were so good you made all of the other sixth-year Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and especially Slytherins jealous. Go back to being the smartarse we all know and love, okay?"

Katrina let out a breath of air she didn't know she had been holding. "Okay. Thanks, Katie."

There was a pause.

"Am I really a smartarse?"

Katie laughed. "More than that. Come on, you should be making up with your friends."

Angelina was down in the Common Room, slumped in an armchair, reading a thick Potions book. She looked tired and bored.

"Ang, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so-" Katrina came down the staircase.

"_You're_ sorry?" Angelina snapped her book shut and stood up. "You're kidding me, right? I snogged your date to the Yule Ball, and _you're_ sorry? I'm the one who should be sorry."

Katrina smiled. "So we're cool, then?"

"Can't imagine how we could play Quidditch together if we weren't."

Now for the harder part. She walked up the staircase towards the sixth-year boys' dormitory, feeling slightly self-conscious. Sure, she had been up there before, but only with Fred and George. Knocking on the door and having some other boy answer would be weird.

_God, what a MarySue-like thought. Next thing you know, I'll be wearing a pink robe and talking in a falsetto voice. Get a grip and knock. You know all these guys._

Lee Jordan answered. When he saw who it was, he leaned against the doorway and flashed her a cocky grin. "Well, hello, beautiful."

She rolled her eyes. "Please, Lee, save the hopeless pick-up lines for Angelina. At least she'll listen to them, if not respond. Are Fred and George there?"

"Oi! Weasleys!" Lee yelled back into the dormitory. "You've got a house-elf to see you here. Something about a blocked toile-_oof!"_

The _oof _sound came from Katrina stomping on his foot. "You know that kick could have been a lot harder, and a lot higher. Spare me the theatricality, please."

He looked up from his mock-pain. "Sure, if you'll go on a date with me."

"Never in a million years, Jordan."

"Yeah, she's saving herself for one of us. If only she'd tell us which one." The twins appeared in the doorway.

Katrina took it all in stride. "As you may have noticed, I prefer muscular, dark-haired two-timing idiots."

"We might have picked up something like that, yeah." George shared a look with Fred.

"Come on, Lee, sensitive moment here."

"Yeah, I know." He didn't move.

"_Lee_."

"Alright, alright. I'm going already!" He disappeared into the dormitory.

There was an awkward pause.

"Guys, I'm so sorr-"

They immediately waved it away.

"It's okay, Kat. Alek's a schlemiel, and you didn't know that. It was a shock for everyone."

"Especially poor Ang," George snickered.

Katrina hugged the two of them. "Thanks, guys."

"Say no more about it, Kat. We've learned firsthand over the years about what saps girls are about their breakups." George quipped.

"Way to ruin the moment, bro." His brother gave him a look, amused. "Oh, by the way, Katrina, we've got to tell you all about this man we met the other night, Ludo Bagman I think his name was. Anyway, he's some Ministry fella-"

"-and we were talking to him about our fake wands, right-"

"-and he promised to look into a patent or an introduction into Zonko's! Isn't it brilliant?"

"It's fantastic." That was the great thing about the twins, they always knew exactly what to say. "Wait, didn't he used to be a Quidditch player?"

When they nodded excitedly, she broke out into a huge grin. "Well, don't just stand there! Tell me exactly what he said!


	12. Chapter 12: The Exile of the Wolf

**A/N:** Yay! She's not completely apathetic! This next chapter's quite long, and slightly dull until Umbridge asks for them. This is one of those bridge-y chapters. WARNING: Fluff approaching (still, like, two chapters away, but I thought I'd just warn you). By the way, if you like this story, PLEASE review! I've had a lot of e-mails telling me that people are putting me on Story Alert (thank you to everyone who did), but only three people have reviewed (thanks to Eagle-of-the-Ninth, KnightStar0146 and especially algie888 - where would I be without your horribly painful criticism?). Please, if you like this story, REVIEW!  
>Thanks!<p>

**The Order of the Phoenix**

"So we've made a new breakthrough-"

"-that we don't want to say too much about-"

"-but, trust us, once it's finished-"

"-it's gonna change every student's life."

"Don't want to say too much about it? Oh, come off it, you two, tell me," wheedled Katrina pleadingly. "You wouldn't open your bedroom door all summer. I was dead bored flying over the orchard for thousandth time at the summer's end, even though I got some good practice in with Harry and Ron-"

Fred picked up a forkful of shepherd's pie. "Nope. Our lips our sealed. But when it's finished, you'll be the first to know."

Katrina twisted her mouth, annoyed, but before she could say anything more on the matter, Professor Dumbledore got to his feet.

After his first few customary announcements - no magic in corridors between classes, the Forbidden Forest if off-limits (Katrina smirked, and she noticed that Harry, Ron and Hermione wore the same grins further down the table - if those three were in the Forest, then she'd better be more careful when it came to her nightly hunting trips), etcetera. Then, Dumbledore called out something that made her ears perk up.

"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank-"

"Weirdest name ever," Katrina and the twins snickered quietly.

"-who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was a smattering of halfhearted applause, under the cover of which George whispered, "She looks like a frog trapped in a pink pudding!"

It was, unfortunately, a rather accurate description of the woman, whom, even as Katrina looked up, had interrupted Dumbledore and was standing up to make a speech.

_She's going to be eaten alive; she has no idea how things are done around here._

"...pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited." Umbridge wrapped up her speech.

Katrina had zoned out for most of the lecture. By the looks on the faces of other students, it seemed as though they had too.

"Oi! Kat, over here!" Katrina Lupine turned at the sound of her best friend's voice. Sighing good-humoredly, she made her way to the front of the small crowd gathered in the courtyard.

Fred and George were, as usual, joking around. A small ball of flame flashed back and forth between them, as easily as if they were two Muggles playing with one of those strange baseballs. The crowd watched them avidly, as if they couldn't get enough.

She rolled her eyes. "Another invention?"

"You bet. George came up with the idea, we both made it." Fred grinned at her, then tossed the orb towards her. It zipped around her, coming to rest on her shoulder for a few seconds before flashing back to George.

"Well? Whadya think?" George looked hopeful.

She smiled. "It's bloody amazing."

Fred and George had recently been developing all sorts of new creations. But they still wouldn't tell her what they were.

"Come on, you two! You've been in there for hours. The other boys live here too!" Hermione Granger, the newly-appointed Head Girl yelled at the closed door.

"Sorry! Can't hear you!" came the cheerful reply, followed by another loud bang, and cheers.

Katrina, sitting in front of the fireplace with her nose in _Animagi Forms; The Science and Magic Behind Them, _looked up, wondering if Fred and George had finally done it.

Her hair drenched, she plodded across the Quidditch fields to join Angelina, the only one on the field so far. The dark seventh-year was scrutinizing the goal posts as if they would blow up and destroy Hogwarts if she took her eyes off them.

"Angelina, I love that you've got the Gryffindor Quidditch team back together, but don't you think we could practise when it's slightly less...wet?"

"Nonsense, Katrina! The more practices we get in, the better!" Angelina turned to her with a crazed look in her eye.

_She's gone as bonkers about practice as Wood._

The twins joined her, red hair hanging lankly across their forehead. They turned to her so Angelina could not hear them.

"Kat, you look really tired. You okay?" George looked sleepily concerned.

"I'm fine. Just stayed out too late hunting last night, that's all."

"How often do you, you know, go down to the Forest?" Fred breathed softly, so no one else could hear.

"Once or twice a week, just enough so that I don't get too restless."

"Do'ya think we could get away with calling in sick?" George muttered to her, changing the subject as Katie Bell stumbled onto the field.

"We could try, but I bet she'd know what we've done." Fred murmured out of the corner of his mouth, as Harry and Ron walked up. "If only I hadn't offered to sell her some Puking Pastilles yesterday."

"If only," Katrina repeated. She wanted to get out of the rain almost as badly as the twins.

"We could always try the Fever Fudge-"

"Fever Fudge? What's this all about then?"

Everyone turned, guilty looks splashed across their faces, to look sheepishly at Angelina.

"Uh...nothing, Ang." George glanced at Katrina and Fred and mouthed _later. _"We were just talking about how much we wished we could do this more often."

"Really." It wasn't a question. "Well then, seeming as you like the rain so much, all of you, mount up and lap the field. Now."

Everyone shot dark looks at George, who for the most part shrugged them off with _Yeah, but you know you love me _puppy-dog eyes.

Katrina watched Harry talk from across the Hog's Head. She stood next to Fred and George, thinking, _this is a really bad meeting place. Any one of Umbridge's spies could hear us loud and clear. _Yet, less than fifteen minutes later, she signed her name rather wholeheartedly on the paper stating DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY.

"Alright, today I'm going to teach you how to cast a Patronus charm." Harry had become quite a leader.

Katrina raised her eyebrows and smiled slightly. She stepped forwards when Harry asked for volunteers. No one else did.

Harry looked at her sideways, black locks falling into green eyes; he was obviously trying to work out why she had stepped forward so eagerly. He shrugged and said, "Okay, Katrina, this is a difficult charm, so don't worry if you don't get it the first time. First of all you have to think of the happiest..."

Katrina zoned out and let the fifth-year go through the instructions. The only people who knew that she had received Patronus training from Professor Lupin two year prior in that room were Fred and George, and very quietly she heard bets being taken; the twins.

"...okay, go ahead any time you're ready." Harry watched her expectantly.

Katrina raised her redwood wand slowly and deliberately, trying to make as much of a show of it as possible. Then, she shouted out, "_Expecto Patronum!"_

A silvery wolf erupted from the tip of her wand, much to the astonishment of the DA, including the famous Harry Potter himself. Katrina couldn't help but smile smugly, just a touch, as Fred and George became more than a little richer, and the wolf floated to stand by her side regally. It raised its head and howled beautifully, hauntingly, before nudging her hand with its white nose and loped up, towards the ceiling, then diving to swoop around the crowd, making them jump back in surprise. Finally, it came to a stop in front of her. It gazed at the DA, penetrating each member with a silver stare, before disappearing.

Harry just looked at her. "Huh. Well done. Alright, everyone, let's go!" As everyone dispersed, Harry turned to her.

"Where did you learn to do that?" His eyebrows were raised in surprise.

"Oh, you know. Around." She grinned mysteriously, mischievously. People always hated it when she did that.

Fred and George's Patronuses were unexpected. While they were identical, Fred's was a hyena, and George's was a coyote. It was fitting, although Katrina had honestly been expecting something along the lines of a pair of foxes.

"Can you believe that woman Umbridge is Headmistress now?" Fred spat as the two of them walked along the hallway.

"She's completely mental," Katrina agreed. "Supervising classes, putting Trewalney on probation, what next?"

"She can do whatever she wants, now that Dumbledore's gone," Fred said darkly. "There's a rumor going around that she's about to let Filch reintroduce whipping punishments. Can't wait for that to happen."

"Ah, yes, Mr and Mr Weasley, along with Miss Lupine, please report to my office?" Umbridge's sticky-sweet voice made the three of them turn around with loathing.

Katrina answered for them, as she could see the twins were too busy shouting curses at Umbridge in their heads. "Yes, Professor."

They followed Umbridge to her office, unable to talk as they were right behind the toady High Inquisitor.

Inside the horrifically tasteless office, Umbridge smiled sweetly at them. "Tea?"

Silence.

"Very well. Let's get down to business, shall we? Mr and Mr Weasley, I believe you are responsible for the disruption in today's Defense Against the Dark Arts class?"

The three of them had been; a two Puking Pastilles, a Fever Fudge and three Bowtruckles and a Grindylow set lose inside the classroom had caused a fantastic disruption. They all remained silent, though. Umbridge took that as a confession.

"Yes, well, that will be, let's see, I think four nights of detention with me?"

The twins tensed. Katrina soundlessly begged them not to make it worse. They didn't.

"Now, Miss Lupine." Umbridge turned to her. "I have no doubt that you also had a hand in today's disorder."

_ And I have no doubt that one day someone will strangle you, for the greater good of all wizarding kind._

"However, there are more important matters at hand." She shuffled some papers on her desk. "Miss Lupine, would you care to tell me exactly what you are?"

"A half-blood, Professor."

A glance of anger echoed across Umbridge's face, but she wiped it off quickly with another nauseating smile. "Yes, well, that's not quite what I meant. _Hem hem," _she coughed, lifting a document up to the light. "I believe you are a rare species known as a natural Animagi?"

What else was she supposed to say? "Yes."

"And you are therefore, a half-breed." Umbridge looked at her like she was a rather disgusting piece of trash.

"Well, actually, Professor, I'm full human, but I can maintain the form of an animal-"

"You are, indeed, closer to a werewolf than human."

"Um, well, actually, I can morph anytime I wish, whereas werewolves have no choice-"

"Just as you had no choice in being born a freak of nature." Umbridge smiled at her, tilting her head to one side as though she was contemplating the best way to cook and eat her.

Katrina felt sick. _A freak of nature? Really? _Part of her didn't believe that. The other part wanted to curse Umbridge with the legendary Bat Bogey Hex.

Fred was the first to react. "_How dare you call her that, you bloody assho-"_

"Ah, ah, ah, Mr Weasley, watch your language, that will be another night in detention-"

George drew his wand out and pointing it threateningly at Umbridge, his face infuriated.

All the while Katrina stood frozen, her mind running a mile a minute. Her brain screamed at her to say something to defuse the situation, to think something even the slightest bit intelligent, to do _anything. _But all she could do was stare. _Come on, you idiot, do something. Don't let the boys fight fight your battles for you. _

Nothing.

And while she had been trying to coax herself into moving, Umbridge had assigned three extra detentions. Fred and George looked enraged.

Katrina took a breath. How to say this without... well, without making the toad angrier. "Guys."

Fred and George stopped and looked at her.

"Professor, I think those comments are..." _What? _"Completely out of line."

"Well, Miss Lupine, as I am now the official Headmistress of Hogwarts, thanks to Professor Dumbledore's untimely disappearance. And I now have the authority to do anything I find necessary."

Katrina grit her teeth and imagined Umbridge with sharp, pointed teeth, laughing maniacally behind a bolt of lightning. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't too hard to picture.

Umbridge continued. "And as I see it fit, I think it would be more beneficial to the other students if you left Hogwarts. Immediately."

"_What?" _Katrina felt a shock of fear bolt through her stomach.

Fred and George gaped.

Umbridge smirked. "You shall have two hours to pack your things and leave the premises. You are dismissed."

"But-"

"_Dismissed."_

"_She can't do this to you!" _Fred cried out angrily.

Hermione frowned, bent over _Hogwarts Headmasters. _"She can, unfortunately. It states here that-"

"Hermione, we don't care what it states! Katrina can't leave! Where will she go?"

"I could go home." Katrina stood by her trunk, haven given up on crazy plots.

"No." Harry stood next to Hermione. "What if you stayed in the Forbidden Forest?"

"Are you mental?" Ron turned to him. "She can't stay in the Forest, it's bloody creepy!"

"No, he's onto something." Katrina crossed the Common Room. "I could stay in the Forest in my Animagi form. It wouldn't be too difficult."

"Just until we murder Umbridge. Then, it's back to Hogwarts!" George sighed unhappily.

"Professor Umbridge, this is an outrage! You cannot banish a student from the grounds!" McGonagall wore the same expression Fred and George had an hour earlier.

"I can, and I have, Minerva. Miss Lupine is all set to leave. Where she goes is her concern. I cannot have the likes of her tainting Hogwarts!"

"Tainting? Tainting! The only one tainting Hogwarts here is you, Dolores!"

"Enough! I am Headmistress, and I will be obeyed!" Umbridge noticed Katrina glaring at her. "Still here? Be off with you! Now!"

They stood in the courtyard, surrounded by most of Hogwart's students. The news had travelled fast.

Katrina didn't bother to pick up her trunk - she had already deposited it in the Forest. Whatever happened, she certainly wasn't going to go quietly. In a last act of rebellion, she morphed in front of everyone.

A ripple went through the courtyard. Apart from Fred and George, no one had really seen her in her wolf form.

The silver wolf shook its shaggy head twice - the signal. From some unseen corner, Hermione whispered, "_Ferveo."_

Instantly the wolf began to froth at the mouth. It was all show, of course, but Umbridge didn't know that. The chubby woman leaped backwards as if lightning had struck the spot in front of her.

The wolf growled low in her throat, enjoying every minute of it. The kids around them cheered loudly. Katrina advanced on Umbridge threateningly.

"I am Dolores Jane Umbridge! I will have order in this school! Leave me alone, you filthy animal!" Umbridge squealed.

The wolf continued to stalk towards the High Inquisitor, snarling. Suddenly, Katrina lunged.

Umbridge screeched and fell on her backside. A roar of laughter from the students and more cheers. Katrina howled once, for show. She swept her gaze around the courtyard of applauding kids and chortling teachers, nodded once, and bounded towards the Forest.


	13. Chapter 13: The Angst of the Wolf

**A/N:** Yay! Angst! And fluff! This is a SUPER long chapter, but it's my favorite in the whole story - prepare to be DAZZLED! Well, maybe not, but it's good; trust me, I wrote it (There's no way to say that I like it without looking like a arrogant fathead. That being said, I like it). By the way, for anyone who likes this story, I've started writing a Young Justice fanfiction. If you like that sort of thing, I'll have started uploading it by today. R&R, if thou pleasest. MockingjayWolf out!

Life in the Forbidden Forest wasn't bad; there were plenty of deer and rabbits and it was cool and dim under the cover of the trees. Katrina dug herself a shallow den underneath the roots of an old oak tree and proceeded to explore her new territory. All kinds of beasts lived in the most recluse places in the Forest; to find them, you only had to be very quiet. Pixies, Bowtruckles, Ashwinders, Kneazles, Jarveys and Mokes were just a few of the less interesting creatures running around in there. But those were the less dangerous beasts; Werewolves, Centaurs, Occamys and Unicorns inhabited the Forest too.  
>Katrina exchanged polite words whenever she and a group of centaurs crossed each other, and once she encountered a herd of unicorns (they seemed to understand that, as a wolf, she wouldn't touch them, and allowed her, as a human, to walk up to them and stroke their silky coats). However, she steered well clear of the aggressive occamys and the mysterious werewolves.<br>Occasionally, Katrina would lope back to the castle to talk to whoever happened to be around, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, Gryffindors and even Slytherins. They all seemed to be impressed with her little act of rebellion and updated her on what she had missed - Umbridge came close to putting Sprout on probation, Umbridge was interrogating suspected D.A. members with Veritaserum, she and Filch were extremely close to discovering the location of the D.A. Some of the (Hufflepuff) girls, especially, thought she looked underfed and took the liberty of smuggling her food from the Great Hall, something she couldn't (and didn't) say no to.

"Hey, Kat?" Fred's voice, for once, was unsure. He stepped around the corner.  
>"Yeah?" Katrina had been watching the sun slowly rise over the top of the lake, splicing the sky with a barrage of soft, dreamy colors. She turned from her comfortable spot with her back against the willow tree at the edge of the Black Lake, slightly surprised. While she herself had gotten used to rising with the sun, the twins were more of the sleep-in-until-late-for-first-period stock.<br>"How's forest life?"  
>"Fine, I guess. But I can't wait until that fat goblin gets up off her arse and leaves, so I can come back."<br>"Uh... I just wanted to give you a heads-up." He shifted uneasily, avoiding her eyes.  
>"What?" <em>Get on with it!<em>  
>"George and I have decided, y'know, with all that's going on... maybe it's time to fly the coop." He finished hurriedly, as if afraid of her reaction.<br>Katrina's brow creased slightly. "You mean-"  
>"Yeah. We're leaving."<br>Instantly she was standing up, looking at him with wide eyes, silent.  
>He looked at her sadly. "You know, you could come with us, but your parents would want you to finish and all-"<br>Fred didn't get any farther before she hugged him. He was taken by surprise - Katrina, up till that point, hadn't been much of a 'huggy' person.  
>"Fred, I-I... understand." What else could she say?<br>_No, don't go, I need the two of you._  
><em>Yeah, fine, go, see if I care.<em>  
><em>No! YOU CAN'T GO! <em>Petrificus Totalus_!_  
>Somehow none of them, especially the last one, seemed right. So she just was quiet.<br>A small breeze picked up, and Katrina stepped back, determined not to cry. "How soon?"  
>"As soon as possible. It could be next week, or tomorrow."<br>"Fred, how can you leave?"  
>"What?"<br>_No, idiot, do go any farther than this. Just accept it. _Too bad she never listened to that little voice in her head. "You have to stay!"  
>He looked vaguely annoyed. "No, I don't. This place has gone to the dogs. Honestly, I think you're probably having more fun out there in the Forest than any of us are in Hogwarts!"<br>"Oh, yeah, sleeping on the cold ground in the rain and having to hunt stringy rabbits to stay alive is real _fun." _She spat angrily. He didn't understand a thing.  
>"Well, fun or not, George and I are leaving. You can't stop us."<br>"Fine! Go!" She shouted. "Hop on your broomsticks and fly into the sunset like the little perfect boys you are!"  
>He looked as though she had hit him. "How are we... in any way... perfect?" His voice was dangerously low.<br>"Everyone likes you two!"  
>"Everyone likes you, too!"<br>Now he was just messing with her.  
>"I'm always the shadow, the third wheel. Yeah, there goes the Lupine girl; what was her first name again? Aw, who cares, she hangs out with Fred and George."<br>"No-one says that."  
>At this point, she knew she was being ridiculous; but it was too late now. "You're just...so... unpredictable!"<br>"Yeah? Well, so are you." He looked at her. "That's what everyone likes about you, Kat_rina. _You could be the perfect little O-star bitch, but you're an athletic, roguish unpredictable Gryffindor Animagus - completely unique. That's what everyone says about you - that's what everyone likes about you... what I like about you."  
>Silence. Katrina was frozen. <em>I am such a-<em>  
>"Bye, Kat." He turned on his heel and strode away.<br>"Fred. Wait!"  
>But he was gone.<br>She closed her eyes and mentally punched herself, sinking back down to the ground, leaning against the tree. _Oh, nice going, idiot. Now he's going to leave and you're never going to get the chance to apologize._

It was like a replay of the day after the Yule Ball. Katrina was too depressed in the morning to even get up, and lay with her furry chin between her paws for hours after she had woken up.  
>A voice calling her name late into the afternoon made her look around. She huffed bad-naturedly as Hermione came into view, ducking under a protruding branch.<br>"Katrina? Are you here?"  
>"Go away!" She, now in witch form, sat with her knees pulled up to her chin. "I am <em>not <em>excepting visitors right now."  
>"Katrina, I've just spent the past thirty minutes trying to find you in this maze of a forest. Please, just listen to what I have to say."<br>"Fine." She glanced up. Hermione wore a patterned sweater to protect her from the chill. Her school robes were nowhere to be seen. Was it Saturday? "Please leave a message at the tone. Beep." There was no emotion in her voice.  
>"Were you awful to Fred yesterday?" Hermione came over and sat down next to her.<br>Katrina sighed, deflating visibly. "Yes. Has he told everyone?"  
>"No. That's the point. He won't talk to anyone, even George. He's just been moping around. You two must have had a pretty big fight."<br>"Yeah. I was just a bitch to him about his leaving."  
>"George was mentioning something about that. "<br>"God, I just got so possessive, like a kid with a toy. I'm not his mother. I can't stop him from leaving."  
>"No. You can't." Hermione looked thoughtful. "But you<em> could<em> give him something to remember you by."  
>"What do you me - oh. Wait a minute - <em>I don't like Fred like that<em>!"  
>"Well, that's just my opinion. Good luck, Katrina. But… just don't be in a fight with him when he leaves." She got up to go.<br>"Thanks." Then, as she was walking away, Katrina suddenly called, "God help me when I start taking love advice from you, Granger!"  
>Hermione smiled over her shoulder. "You're welcome!"<p>

"Have you seen Fred?"  
>"No." A Ravenclaw who looked like he had somewhere to be.<br>"Have you seen Fred?"  
>"Bugger off, wolf-freak." A Slytherin who looked disgusted to be within ten feet of her.<br>"Have you seen Fred?"  
>"No. If I do, I'll tell him though." A Hufflepuff.<br>This continued, until, finally, Katrina just asked people when she heard their footsteps, looking down at her feet.  
>"Have you seen Fred?"<br>"What do you want, Katrina?"  
>Katrina's head snapped up. Fred looked at her dully.<br>"Fred, I-" She hadn't planned this part.  
>"What?"<br>"I-I-"  
>"I've got to get to class, Katrina."<br>"Wait!" But he was already gone, striding down the corridor. She ran after him, planning her apology. She grabbed his robe, and-

She landed hard on her ass, groaning.  
>Fred sat up next to her. "Where the hell did you take me?"<br>"The- The Forbidden Forest, I think."'  
>"Learning from those Apparating classes, I see." He got up, dusted himself off and walked off in a random direction, into the shadows of the misty-surrounded trees.<br>_Not again._  
>"Will you slow down?" She had to jog to keep up with him. "Do you even know where you're going?"<br>"No. I'll find my way out, though."  
>"Fred, wait." She stopped dead at the edge of the clearing they had just entered.<br>"What?" He looked annoyed.  
>"Stop." Something in her voice made him stop. "That's a Quintaped nest."<br>"Oh, really. The same Quintapeds that _only live on the Isle of Drear_?" He looked skeptical. "Is this a prank? Cause if it is, it's not funny."  
>"Fred, this is not a prank. I don't know how they got here." She gulped. "Just don't do-"<br>"_Incendio!" _A burst of flame spurted from his wand towards the nest.  
>"<em>No!" <em>She shrieked in fear as scores of hairy spider-like beasts began to crawl out of the nest, screeching in high-pitched voices. "Fred, you idiot!"  
>He drew backwards in shock at the army of red-brown hairy beasts that crowded out of the hole in the ground that was their nest – now on fire. Unfortunately, the beasts seemed to be unharmed.<br>"Me? You're the one who Apparated us here!"  
>She stumbled backwards. "You're the one who cast a frickin' <em>Incendio<em> spell at their nest – _Reducto_!" she yelled, pointing her wand at the nearest Quintaped. It exploded in a puff of fur that was almost comical, if it hadn't enraged the others further.  
>Katrina screamed as one leaped and latched itself onto her foot. She fell on her butt and scrambled backwards, trying to loosen the Quintaped's hold on her jeans. It steadily crawled up her leg instead, shrieking all the while. In a strange moment of panic, she remembered something from <em>Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find The: the Quintaped particularly enjoys the taste of human flesh.<em>  
><em>Oh, freakin' fantastic.<em>  
>Fred was occupied with the ever-present swarm of advancing Quintapeds; besides, even if he was free to cast a spell, he was more likely to hit her.<br>Her hand closed over a rock. In last minute desperation, she grabbed it and began smashing the Quintaped with it. It screamed and bit down hard on her leg, it's fangs entering through her jeans. Katrina yelled in pain, and brought down the rock one last time, crushing the beast's head. It unlatched itself, quite dead.  
><em>Pain. <em>She rolled over, moaning. The world took on a dazing quality; everything was unfocused and slow, muted and alien. Fred, wand still drawn, ran over and yanked her to her feet.  
>"Well? You're the – <em>Incendio<em> – Care of Magical Creatures expert! What do we do?"  
>"Run." She felt strangely calm. It was as though the Quintaped had sucked out all her panic and bitten some sense into her.<br>"What?"  
>The world snapped back into focus. "Run!" She grabbed his wrist and towed him frantically away from the man-eating spiders-like creatures.<br>"I can't believe you were stupid enough to Apparate us to a random place in the Forest without even thinking!" Obviously he was still mad.  
>"The only reason I did that was because you were too stubborn to even stop to hear me out!" She tripped over a tree root in her haste to be self-righteous.<br>He pulled her back up on her feet, as the Quintapeds continued to chase them. Fred ducked under a branch. "Alright. You know what? I'm sorry!"  
>The breath now ran ragged in her chest, but it was easier for her apology to come spilling out now that he had done it. "I'm sorry too – for being such a bitch to you yesterday. I should have – <em>Petrificus Totalus<em> – stopped when I realized what I was doing, but – _Incendio!_ "  
>"I'm sorry for telling you so late about our leaving. I should have mentioned – <em>Evanesco<em> – it earlier, it must have been too much of a shock for you."  
>"I'm sorry for Apparating us to who-knows-where!" She put on a burst of frightened speed, adrenaline coursing through her veins, as a particularly quick Quintaped made a wild grab for her ankle. She yelped as its clubfoot grazed the back of her jeans.<br>"Appa-Apparating! That's it!" Fred grabbed her arm. "Hold on!"  
>"Fred, what are you-" Then, they were gone, leaving a very confused, very hungry group of Quintapeds behind.<p>

They landed harshly just outside of the Forest. Katrina forced her heartbeat to slowly calm down. Then she turned to Fred.  
>"You-"<br>"You-" Apparently they had the same idea.  
>"Um- thanks for, uh, getting us out of there." She tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear self consciously, very much aware of how stupid she looked.<br>"Um, no problem." He got to his feet and pulled her up.  
>She tried to take her hands away, but Fred held on. Katrina looked up at him, confused.<br>"Before I went, I wanted to say... that..." _Get on with it, Weasley! _Fred chided himself. "I...I.. oh, hell with it."  
>He leaned forward and kissed her. Katrina froze, her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates.<br>And suddenly she found herself kissing him back. His lips were soft and warm. A small, sweet ache in the middle of her stomach confirmed that this was right, that she wanted to be nowhere else but here right now, that this was perfect and she wanted to freeze time and never end this moment...  
>She pulled back for air, breathing deeply. Fred looked at her.<br>Katrina swallowed. She took him, trying to be gentle, stifling the lust-filled wolf inside her, by the back of his neck and pulled his face down to hers. He took her lower back as their mouths pressed together. It wasn't an ache anymore; it was a flame that roared inside her for more. He moved his hands up and twisted them into her hair. A shiver of delight ran up her spine and she kissed him fiercely.  
>And as soon as it had begun, it was over. Fred pulled back from Katrina, hazel eyes meeting brown- the fire she had felt was mirrored in his eyes. They were both breathing hard.<br>"You kiss like you learned it from a book." It was the only thing that was in her mind.  
>"Huh?"<br>"Romeo and Juliet."  
>"You're such a geek, Kat." He took a deep breath. "I love you, Katrina."<br>She said what she had wanted to say for months. "I love you too."

She watched the red-haired rebels shoot around the courtyard, throwing fireworks everywhere.  
>"A discount on all Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products to any student here who comes in and tells us they're using our products to get rid of this old bat," George whooped.<br>"_Stop them!" _Umbridge shrieked, quite frazzled after a chasing from a terrifying firework dragon. It was too late anyway.  
>"Give her hell from us, Peeves." Fred calmly nodded to the poltergeist.<br>Peeves sprang to a salute as Fred and George sped out of the courtyard into the sunset.  
>Katrina turned from the shadowed corner she was standing in, so as not to be seen by Filch or any of the Inquisitorial Squad, and smirked. They had definitely outdone her.<p>

"The thestrals should be right over here, Harry - oh!" Luna Lovegood, a fifth year, practically tripped over the dozing wolf. Yet she didn't seem in the least scared. "Hello there. You wouldn't happen to be sixth-level nargle, would you?"  
>The wolf, annoyed her nap had been disturbed, grumbled and rolled over and morphed quietly into Katrina Lupine.<br>"Oh, no. I supposed it would be you, Katrina. Sixth-level nargles are ever so hard to find, as they can change their appearance to suit any non-magical beast."  
>Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny stumbled into the small clearing behind Luna.<br>"Hi, Katrina." Harry seemed impatient, so Katrina decided to be annoying and ask the obvious question.  
>"What's going on?"<br>"We're going to the Ministry of-"  
>"<em>Shut up, Neville!"<em>  
>"Ginny, it's okay. You know Katrina. She's fine."<br>Indeed, Katrina had met Ginny. They were on neutral terms, but Ginny had never quite forgiven Katrina as the young red-haired Weasley seemed to think that her twin brothers would have spent a lot more time with her had the natural Animagus never come into the picture.  
>"Katrina, why don't you come with us? You're a sixth-year, so you know more advanced spells." Hermione looked pleadingly at her.<br>_What the hey. It was getting boring anyway. _"Okay; but first, where are you going and what are you looking for?"  
>"Harry thinks Sirius is trapped in the Department of Mysteries and is being tortured by Voldemort," Ron said quickly.<br>Harry flinched.  
>Katrina slit her eyes. "What if it's just a trap?"<br>"That's what I said!" Hermione looked relieved to have someone of common thinking with her. "Harry, what if Voldemort has just set this up so-"  
>"No, Hermione! Sirius is in trouble, and we have to save him!" Harry turned and stomped further into the forest.<br>"Harry." Luna's voice was calm.  
>"<em>What?"<em>  
>"The thestrals are the other way."<br>He turned around without missing a beat and disappeared into the trees.  
>"Doesn't miss much, does he?" Katrina walked after him, and the other fifth-years followed.<p>

"This place is so creepy." Ginny's hushed whisper brought Katrina back from her thoughts.  
>The seven of them moved down the aisles in a pack, the glowing orbs lighting up the dim room, like some sort of paranormal grocery store.<br>_Wonder if there's one about me? Let's see... Lochester, Rachel... Loohl, Eric... Lyma, Wendy. Nope. Damn. That would have been interesting._  
>Harry, meanwhile, had found an orb with his name on it. Katrina narrowed her eyes as her stomach gave a nervous jump. Something was wrong.<br>"Guys." It was a sharp command for everyone to be alert.  
>Neville, Luna, Ginny, Ron, Harry and Hermione tensed, listening.<br>A curse flew out of the darkness, and Katrina, with quick physical reflexes (but slightly slower mental reflexes) sent back the first curse that came into her head - "_Reducto!_"  
>A burst of black, and a Death Eater, who had been about to curse Luna, exploded into a thousand pieces.<br>_Whoops. Oh well._  
>Suddenly, voices all around them, and they were surrounded by Death Eaters. One of them took off his mask - Lucius Malfoy.<br>"Potter - the prophecy. Now. Hand it over, like a good boy." Lucius held out a hand.  
>"No!"<br>"Very well." He nodded to the other Death Eaters. They lunged forwards, and before anyone could react, they Apparated.

A hooded figure stood with his wand against her throat. She breathed in and out steadily, trying to hold back the rising wave of panic. Everyone except Harry, who stood in the middle of the black room, had a captor and a wand against their necks.  
>"Now, Potter, the prophecy." Malfoy looked impatient.<br>"Let - let the others go, and I'll give you the prophecy."  
>Malfoy laughed - a mean sound. "You are in no position to bargain, Potter. You are helpless, and none of your little friends can assist you here."<br>"Wanna bet?" It was the stupidity talking, but Katrina was running on adrenaline. She traded her trapped human skin for the sleekness of her silver wolf, who twisted around and snapped at the face of the Death Eater. He yelped and dropped his wand. She stood up on her hind legs and pushed him into the wall, rendering him unconscious. Meanwhile, the fifth-years were taking advantage of the chaotic situation, whirling about and stunning the Death Eaters. Katrina turned human again and cast a Petrificus Totalus spell at an attacking Death Eater.  
>All of a sudden, a voice came right next to her ear. "Little wolf puppy wants to play, does she? Well, how does she like torture games?"<br>Before she could react, Bellatrix Lestrange shrieked, "_Crucio!"_  
>And the pain was white-hot and agonizing - needles and knives thrust themselves into her body and twisted, twisted - Katrina fell to the floor and convulsed, clawing at her body. Dimly she heard her name being screamed out, and the laughing of a madwoman.<br>Then, the pain was gone - at least most of it. The throbbing pounded her head and a hammer smashed into her skull. Everything went white, then red, then black.

"Kat? You waking up?"  
>Her eyes flickered open. Light pierced her irises. She slammed her eyelids shut and moaned - her body was being crushed by a hundred-ton weight.<br>"Come on, Kat. Don't make make me force-feed you Canary Creams."  
>She unlatched her eyes and looked into a concerned, red-headed face - Fred.<br>"Hey, stranger." He smiled.  
>"Fred. Where am I?"<br>"St Mungo's Department for the Psychiatrically Disturbed."  
>"What?" She struggled into an upright position, ignoring the burst of pain. "I'm not - I can't be-"<br>"Relax, Kat. You're in St Mungo's. That Cruciatus Curse Lestrange hit you with was pretty strong." Fred tensed angrily. "On the bright side, it's nice to know you're still naive. And alive."  
>Katrina hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck. From his sitting position, he hugged her back.<br>"Wish I could have been there. I would have murdered that madwoman and maybe Sirius wouldn't have-" He cut himself off.  
>"Wouldn't have what? Fred? What happened?"<br>"Uh, George is back at the shop. I should let him know you're awake."  
>"<em>Fred."<em>  
>"Kat... Sirius was killed by Lestrange. Right after she tortured you, she duelled Sirius... and he lost."<br>"Oh... ohmigod." Katrina was too shocked to let the literal meaning of the sentence sink in. "Fred..."  
>"I know."<p> 


	14. Chapter 14: The Life & Times of the Wolf

**A/N:** Yay! Short, relatively normal chapter! This chapter was supposed to be a lot longer, but I ran out of plot-bunnies (man, those things multiply like mad when you don't need them, and disappear when you do) about her job. So, just enjoy her undetailed post-Hogwarts life! Oh, and if you think she is sucking up to her boss, that's probably because she is. I was really tired when I wrote this chapter, and Katrina's personality might be a little morphed. R&R, if thou pleasest!

**The Half-Blood Prince**

"Miss... Lupine?"

"Yes, sir."

"What a frightfully suitable name. Please follow me." The well-built man walked into his office, followed by Katrina.

"Please, take a seat." The man's office contained cages with smaller animals that Katrina recognized as Horklumps, Imps, Fairies and an Augurey, looking mournful (of course, that is an Augrey's nature).

"Sir-"

"Please, call me Mr Moore. Dannis Moore." He shook her hand over his polished desk.

"So, Katrina, I understand you are interested in becoming a Magizoologist."

"Yes." _Keep your answers short and sweet._ That had been her parents' advice.

"Any idea as to a speciality you'd like to pursue?"

"I find I especially like the Griffin, and additionally the Hippogriff."

"That would put you in the Beast Division...why are you partial to the Griffin?" Moore leaned forward, fingers interlaced.

"Well, I find them fascinating, proud, graceful beasts, with personalities unique to each one."

"I see... good, good. And you've studied at Hogwarts... you are a top student, one of the best in your year. No, no problem here." He paused, and shuffled the papers on his desk. "But, it's noted that you were absent from a large portion of your seventh year - it says that you were absent from a large portion of your seventh year, although you were able to sit your exams, albeit slightly later. Would you care to tell me why?"

What was she supposed to say? _Well, Mr Moore, the reason is mostly because a cow named Dolores Umbridge banished me from the school, and I had to live in the Forbidden Forest until she was carried off by centaurs. _"Well, um-"

"But I'm sure we can overlook that. One final question - we have more than forty applicants for this job opening. Why should I hire you?" The Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures scrutinized her.

"I feel that I would be able to better... connect with the animals because I have a tactical advantage."

"And what would that be?"

"I am a natural Animagus."

"Really." He looked as though he didn't believe her. "Why don't you show me."

"Alright." She stood up, pushed her chair back, and morphed. Simple as that.

He looked at the silver wolf standing before him, significantly shorter than her human counterpart.

"Well, that is interesting. And you say you were born with this ability?" Moore wasn't fazed by much.

The wolf nodded, her muzzle jerking up and down.

"Miss Lupine, I do believe you have just been hired as a Magizoologist. Welcome aboard."

Katrina, now human, shook his hand, grinning.

"You got the job? That's fantastic!" Fred embraced Katrina warmly and planted a kiss on top of her head.

George grinned, embarrassed. "Aww. Widdle Georgie's awl awone," he joked, making fun of himself.

"Don't worry, widdle Georgie. I think a certain chaser whose name rhymes with, uh, Fandeliga Yohanson who would really like to know you better." Fred smirked at him over the top of his girlfriend's head.

"Really? Brilliant." George smiled cheekily.

They stood in the twins' office at the back of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"So, where you heading first?" George leaned against a desk easily.

"My first assignment is Scotland. I have to document breeding patterns and methods of Scottish Griffins-"

"How long's zis gonna take?"

"Two weeks, at the most."

"Aww. Two weeks. Wittle Freddie's going to miss you." George sniggered.

"Oh, don't be so mean to wittle Freddie, George." Katrina raised an eyebrow. "He has feewing too."

"Why are we talking like this?"

"No clue."

"So, all in all, not one of Ron's better birthdays?" said Fred.

It was evening, and the six of them sat round Ron's hospital bed. Harry, Hermione and Ginny had been waiting outside the hospital wing doors all day, apparently, until Madam Pomfrey had let them in at eight. Fred and George had arrived at ten past. Katrina herself had come at twenty past, slowed by a late arrival, caused by a dispute over how many Galleons she had paid Madam Rosemerta at the Three Broomsticks.

She had been in Hogsmeade with Fred and George, on a quick business trip for them, and a quick nostalgia trip for her. While they debated buying Zonko's, she had been reliving her years at Hogwarts. Until the news had come that Ron Weasley had almost died, and only Harry Potter's quick thinking had saved him (no thanks to Horace Slughorn, who had been there at the time).

"This isn't how we imagined handing over our presents," George remarked grimly, laying down a large wrapped gift beside Ron's bed. Katrina mimicked him, placing her round package next to the twins'.

"Yeah, when we pictured the scene, he was conscious." Fred added.

"Guys, come on. Your younger brother almost died, and all you can do is make jokes?" Katrina was surprised. Fred and George, albeit normally jokers who couldn't take anything seriously, could pull off seriousness in the right circumstances - and this was definitely the right circumstance.

"Yeah...well." George shrugged. "What else are we going to do?"

Katrina thought for a moment. "Good question. Let me get back to you on that."

The year passed quickly. Katrina's job was almost the centre of her life; studying Griffins became her passion. She loved the ferocity and dignity of each different one, and would spend hours watching their flying patterns. Once she got close enough to touch a female and her cub - but didn't.

She and Fred became closer as the months wore on. Katrina found herself spending more time at the jokeshop then at her own small apartment above the Magical Menagerie. One day, she walked into Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, feeling tired. She saw Verity, one of the shop's employees, and made her way towards the short blonde.

"Hi, Verity," Katrina sighed, pushing a stand of hair behind her ear. "Is Fred here?"

"Let me get him, Miss Lupine." Verity disappeared, just as Fred came up behind her.

"What can I get you? Seeing as Verity's going to look for a non-existent me in the office."

She turned and smiled. Time for the pitch. "Fred, do you think that you work too much?"

He raised an eyebrow. "No, why?"

"Good. Come on." She grabbed by the arm and towed him out of the shop.

"What? Where are we going?"

"I rented a cottage out in the countryside for the weekend, because I think you work too much and I'm on a holiday."

"Do I get a choice?"

"No. Verity and George can hold down the fort without you for three days."

"Okay." He grinned. "Best decision I've never had to make."

The cottage was cute; petite and elegant at the same time. There was only one bedroom, a kitchen and a small living room with a fireplace for cold nights. In short, it was a Muggle home, but an adorable one at that.

They spent two nights in each other's company. Days were spent flying around the nearby woods spooking hikers, and nights were spent curled up in the other's arms on the couch, talking.

"When this war is over, I was thinking about buying a house." He murmured, pulling her closer.

"What about the shop?"

"Oh, I'd still work there, but I wouldn't live right on top of it. More space to move around. You know?"

"Yeah. What about kids?"

"Huh?"

"You know; would you ever want to have kids?"

"Maybe; but only if I could name them Gred and Forge."

"What if you had a girl?" Katrina traced the wood wall with a finger dreamily.

"Don't know. I've always liked Brianna, though."

"That's more of a Muggle name."

"So is Fred. And George, for that matter. Don't know what was running through Dad's head at the time."

"Probably something along the lines of unintelligible screaming."

"Mmmm... what about a job? Would you ever change?"

"Probably not. I like working with Magical Creatures, Griffins or not."

"And..." he trailed off. "Never mind. I'm out of questions."

She snuggled up against him, tucking her feet behind her. "Me too."

Fred pulled her in for a hug. She smiled and kissed him fiercely.

"Hey, Kat-"

"Yeah," she agreed.

"You didn't know what I was going to say."

"I have mind-reading powers. Now, come on."

He grinned. "You're the boss. And the kidnapper, might I add."

"I'm just paying you back for our fourth year." Katrina was referring to the her 'kidnapping'; otherwise known as the Weasley's Car's Destruction.

"That never actually happened!"

"Well, my memory's not what it used to be. No more talking now."

But he wasn't done. "Happy New Year, Kat."

"Happy New Year, Fred."


	15. Chapter 15: The Cry of the Wolf

**A/N:** Second favorite chapter! Oh, and I only just realized, but please, bare with me if you've noticed that one scene is going on, and then all of a sudden another is going on. In this chapter, passage of time will be indicated with !~!. Please, just use your imagination for the first fourteen chapters! R&R, if thou pleasest!

**The Deathly Hallows**

Katrina raised an eyebrow at Fred as he caught her eye. He grinned sheepishly and turned to smile graciously at the French girl he had so eagerly just introduced himself to. The Weasley twins certainly seemed to be enjoying Bill and Fleur's wedding.

_Well, now, two can play at that game, can't we? _She turned to a rather handsome young Frenchman with dark hair, dark eyes, and a very nice smile, and had just begun flirting with him (and believe me, he was retaliating with just as much vigor) when Fred stepped in.

"And what would you be doing, now?" he asked the boy menacingly, using his height to an advantage.

The poor boy turned an unnatural shade of red and backed away, muttering apologies.

Fred looked at Katrina, his bright grin plastered back onto his face where it belonged. "Um...he was taking up too much...air-space?" he tried weakly.

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Try again."

"Uh, um...well, I'm sorryandhowaboutwejustdance...now?" He was trying, she had to give him that.

"Oh, okay. But no more pretty French girls."

"What pretty French girls? Where?" Fred whipped his head around - teasing her. "The only pretty girl I see is right here in front of me."

"And believe me, the only handsome guy I see is this 50 foot one in front of me." Indeed, he was a lot taller than her, but not by much anymore - she herself had gotten taller in the past few months.

!~!

"You alright, Freddie?"

"Yeah."

The three of them stared off into the distance from one of Hogwarts' battlements. Katrina leaned against Fred's shoulder, quietly reflecting.

"Kat, you good?"

She smiled. "I'm fine, George." She was going to say more, but stopped herself.

Overhead, the storm clouds brewed and darkened. So much had happened in the past few months, and it was all going to end here. Tonight.

George stretched. "We should go down now." Catching a look from his twin, he added, "I'll catch up with you two lovebirds." He headed down the spiral staircase.

Fred looked at his girlfriend. "Are you really okay?"

"Fred, what if-"

"Don't worry about that, Kat. Everything's going to be fine. We'll all be okay come the morning, Voldemort will be gone and I can go back to dating my werewolf girlfriend."

"Animagus."

"Right."

They were silent for a while, before Katrina said, "But what if-"

Fred stopped her with a kiss.

It was slow and sweet and tender. His mouth was warm against her's. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms gently around his neck. He pulled her in, his hands around her waist.

Katrina wanted the world to stop, for time to freeze, and she could keep living in this moment forever...

And it was over. She pulled back, looking at him. Hazel eyes met brown.

"I love you, Katrina."

"I love you too, Fred." She hugged him, her eyes tightly shut.

_Why?_

!~!

"Nice night for it!" Fred yelled as Harry Potter ran by.

Katrina raised her wand, redwood, 14 inches, phoenix feather. George on her left, Fred on her right. Her friends - Angelina, Katie, Luna, Neville, Ginny, all around them. She took a deep breath and reached out for Fred's hand. He took it gently. Slowly her racing heart calmed.

And all hell exploded.

Katrina cast Stunning Spells, hexes and curses left and right. Occasionally she transfigured a Death Eater into an inanimate object; one was a lamp, another an umbrella, and one particularly ugly-looking man became a pencil.

Once in a while she would become a wolf again, and that was mainly for intimidation. She wasn't about to kill a human as a wolf. But the Death Eaters didn't know that.

"_Stupefy!" _she yelled, casting a messy Stunning Spell at a blond Death Eater.

A scream rose above the crowded Hall. Katrina shoved a convulsing Death Eater to the floor roughly and turned, trying to find the location of the sound.

_There. _Lavender Brown, whom she briefly remembered gossiping to Angelina and Katie about two years ago, lay on the ground, screeching her eyes out in primal pain.

The death toll rose higher. Katrina would catch glimpses of friends and enemies alike falling, but all she could do was keep fighting.

Suddenly she was back-to-back with Percy Weasley, dueling a female Death Eater. As woman keeled over with a full body-bind placed on her, Katrina heard Percy yell from behind her.

"Hello, Minister!" he bellowed, sending a neat jinx straight at Thicknesse, who suddenly clawed at his robes as if something under there was extremely uncomfortable. "Did I mention I'm resigning?"

"You're joking Perce!" shouted Fred as the Death Eater he was battling collapsed under the weight of the three separate Stunning Spells sent his ways. Fred looked at Percy with glee.

"You actually _are _joking, Perce...I don't think I've heard you joke since you were, well, I don't know how young!" He caught Katrina's eye, and grinned. "Okay, Kat? Bet that-"

The air exploded. Katrina was thrown into the air, and instinctively curled her arms over her head. She landed hard on her side, her wand skittering away from her. She grabbed it, clutching at her ears as she did so. The world had taken on a muffled sort sound, and it spun in and out of focus. But suddenly she realized-

_Fred._

She screamed even before she reached him. It was an animal cry of agony, something neither flame nor curse could cause. It was the cry of the wolf. Fred lay on his back on the ground near where the wall had blasted apart. Katrina was the first to reach him.

"No-no-no!" she shouted, shaking his shoulder. "No! Fred! No!"

Suddenly Percy was by her side, and Ron was kneeling across from them, and she was thinking mindlessly_He's gone. Oh god, he's GONE._

Another explosion wracked the castle, and Katrina ducked down, across her boyfriend's body, shielding him. Silently she grieved, denying it over and over again in her mind. Dimly she heard someone shouting.

"Percy! Katrina! We've got to move!"

She was aware of Percy standing up and stumbling away, but she just shook her head, curling herself over his body, protecting it from the sounds all around and clutching at it like her last hope. _Wake up, please, Fred, wake up._

Her world had ended. Everything had fallen silent when she began to run, as a wolf.

Far away from everything, away from Fred's body, which she vaguely remembered helping move to where a suit of armor had stood before.

But she was the silver wolf once more. She didn't remember changing. But she streaked out of the castle as fast as she could, away. She passed death and destruction, Death Eaters and students alike, lying glassy-eyed on the floor, never to move on their own account again.

_Coward. Stupid bloody sniveling coward._

And she was human again, shivering on the edge of the forest. It was dark, but the Forest looked warm and inviting, like a loved one waiting to welcome you at the end of a hard day.

Somehow she knew that if she had gone in, she would have never come out. She took one last long, lingering look at the Forbidden Forest, narrowed her eyes, morphed back into a wolf, and raced back towards Hogwarts.

By the time she had gotten there the battle was half-over. She stared round at wounded, row upon row of them. And the dead. Lupin, who had taught her to control her Animagus form. Tonks, who she had always admired and looked up to. Colin Creevey, a young sixth-year Gryffindor. She was soundly regretting her decision to come back when -

"Katrina!"

She turned at the sound of Molly Weasley's voice. Katrina only just finished returning to human form when she was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug.

"Mrs Weasley, there's-"

"I know, dear. I was told a few minutes ago."

And suddenly the two women were crying, both of them holding onto the other for support.

"Come, dear. Everyone's with him."

Katrina followed Mrs Weasley to where Fred was laid out. All the Weasleys gathered around his body. She knelt next to George, staring unseeing at his twin's body. Fred would never cast a spell again, never live or walk or talk or breathe again. He looked as if he were sleeping, a small ghost of a smile on his freckled face.

"George..."

"How did it happen?"

"George, I don't want to-"

_"How did it happen?"_

The quiet fury in his voice scared her. She choked out a ragged explanation.

George seemed to deflate. "Sorry, Kat."

He put his arm around her comfortingly as her body quietly shook with anguish. His own grimy cheeks were slashed with tears.

We were all there, comforting one another. But all I wanted right now was Fred.

Ron noticed the small bulge in Fred's pocket before anyone else. He slipped his hand in and pulled out a tiny velvet box. Mrs Weasley peered at it over his shoulder. Ron looked up. "Katrina..." He seemed at a loss for words, and simply held the box out. Mrs Weasley tried to stop him, but it was in Katrina's hands before she could do anything.

She turned it over, and there on the top of the purple velvet box, were the words, sewed in gold:

_Katrina_

_I will always love you_

Katrina opened it. "He was going to..." she was unable to finish. She had been brave for long enough. The tears flowed down her blood- and dirt-stained cheeks. She sobbed.

In the centre of the box was a ring, fitted with a small, perfect diamond.

_Hours seemed to pass for the small girl although in reality it was only minutes, before a loud call of, "WEASLEY, FRED!" brought her back to the present._

_She watched dully as the Sorting Hat was placed on a red-headed boy. It was too big for him, and slipped down over his eyes, causing a ripple of laughter to sweep the hall. The girl smiled herself - if only just a little. The boy himself grinned and swung his legs as the Hat practically screamed, "GRYFFINDOR!"_

_She looked down at her robes, and continued trying to create a hole in the ground that she could sink through. Expectedly, it didn't work._

_"Hey, is anyone sitting here?"_

_Katrina looked up, startled. Fred flashed a grin at her._

**_!~!~!~!~!~!~!_**

**A/N: **Fred. *Sniff* Goodbye, Fred Weasley.


	16. Chapter 16: The Legacy of the Wolf

**A/N:** Do the epilogue dance! Last chapter - thank you to everyone who has read this story! By the way, I may be writing a sequel focusing on the next generation. We shall see. R&R, if thou pleasest. And if you ever feel alone and without a Fred Weasley, just know that the Fred Weasley Death Denial Support Group will be there for you.

**Eleven Years Later**

"Mum, what if I can't get through?"

"Gideon, you'll get through. You're a wizard, and wizards can do anything."

"What about me?"

"You too, Bree."

"Wait...I'm not a wizard!"

"No, just a witch. Not as good."

"Gideon!"

"Alright. I'm sorry. Come on, Bree, we'll do it together."

Katrina, now twenty-eight years old, smiled at her twins. "You two go ahead. I'll follow."

Bree, outgoing as always, ran into the pillar at full speed, disappearing. Gideon, slightly more cautious, jogged at a steady face and followed his red-headed sister into Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

Katrina glanced around, taking in the sights of King's Cross Station. A sense of heavy nostalgia filled her. _Fred would have loved to see his children grow up._

Sweet, reckless Bree. Innocent, witty Gideon. Barely knowing, and hardly caring, that their mother was only seventeen years older than them. Katrina had been so young to become a mother, but her family and friends had been there all the way for her. She supported herself on her job as a well-recognized Magizoologist in the Ministry of Magic, second only to Rolf Scamander, who headed the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. The three of them lived fifteen or twenty miles or so away from Diagon Alley, in a small cottage in the suburbs not dissimilar from the one she and Fred had spent that fateful weekend in all those years ago. She had refused any offers of money Mrs and Mr Weasley had attempted to get her to take, knowing that she herself earned more than Arthur. Bree and Gideon loved their grandparents, aunts and uncles, though.

'Uncle Georgie and Aunt 'Gelina', as they were known, came round once or twice a week with their nine year old son Fred and seven year old daughter Roxanne. The twins loved playing with their cousins and developed close bonds with them as they zoomed around the apple orchard down the street on small toy broomsticks, under the close eye of the three parents. It should have been four. But it was three.

_Fred, wherever you are right now, I hope you can see Bree and Gideon, and be proud of them. Bree's said she would mail me the Hogwarts House Cup once she's stolen it - it sounds so much like you. Of course, she's had to promise not to steal it, but to win it fair and square. Gideon's going to be top in many of his classes, I know it - even if he's in Slytherin - he had his nose stuck in _Hogwarts - A History_ all the car ride over here. Whichever House our twins are in, I know they'll do us proud. I miss you, Fred, and I love you._

Katrina took a breath, brushed a strand of sleek brown hair behind her ear, and disappeared into the pillar, smiling sadly, yet a touch wolfishly, as she went.


End file.
